Chapter Twenty Four
Spirit shivered as she waited for the rest of her friends to finish crawling through the hole behind her. She'd thought she'd seen a lot of creepy things in her travels with Link, but the bottom of this well really took the cake.
It was dark and dank with spider webs in every corner, bugs crawling along the walls. There was a quiet squeak from somewhere in the darkness ahead of them and she jumped back, shoulders shaking.
"Hey, you ok?" Flute whispered.
She nodded, not sure she could get the words out.
"You don't have to come with you know. There's plenty of us here if you want to wait with the others up top."
"N-No, I can do this." she said, setting her face firmly.
"Want to hide in my pocket?" he offered.
She took a deep breath, then nodded again. Spirit morphed back into a ball, shrinking herself down and in his pocket like she had so often during their adventures, just as Ravio finally squeezed himself through the hole, brushing dirt off of his robe when he stood up.
"Why is this at the bottom of a well?" Medli wondered.
"This was all built to seal Bongo-Bongo away." Navi told them. "But be really careful, there are a lot of false floors and walls in here. I remember where most of them are, but still, be careful!"
"Bongo Bongo?" Irene glanced up at the fairy, "The boss from the Shadow Temple that Time and Mask talked about? He was sealed here?"
The fairy bobbed in the air, giving the impression of a nod. Flute started leading the way down the hall, sword drawn, while Navi answered.
"No one knows for sure who he was before he died, but after he did, his soul became dangerous and powerful. He was sealed in the well in order to save Kakariko. Later he got out and took over the Shadow Temple. Time was able to kill him there, but it was really hard."
"How do you kill something that's already dead?" Medli whispered, stepping gingerly around a dark puddle.
"It's…hard to explain. His soul had lived on, but it wasn't human anymore." Navi sighed, "It was twisted, deformed. That was what Time killed."
"Why did Hyrule even have a Shadow Temple to take over though?" Ravio asked. The group turned a corner, Flute giving a strange picture on the wall a wide berth.
"Hyrule, this Hyrule at least, has a really dark history. There was a really bloody civil war and the royal family had to make a lot of hard decisions." Navi drooped in the air as she thought about it, "Sheik would be a better one to tell you, but no one really likes to talk about it."
"I can understand that." Ravio muttered, "Lorule has had some dark times too."
"Lorule is going through a dark time right now." Irene muttered, glaring at the floor in front of her.
Ravio winced, "I'm really sorry about all of that."
"Wasn't your fault. Just know that if we end up back home, I'm kicking Hilda and Yuga all the way into another timeline."
"Fair enough…I guess," he said hesitantly.
"Watch out for that floor!" Navi called out as Flute was about to turn a corner.
He stumbled to a stop, almost losing his balance, "Thank you!"
"This place seems pretty deserted, even though it's really creepy." Irene glanced around. It seemed like they had been walking in a circle for a little while now. "Are we sure it's down here?"
"Fi said it was." Flute reminded her, "We have no reason to think it isn't."
Sheerow chirped. Ravio rolled his eyes, "I left my hood with the others, I can't understand you!"
"I can!" Navi said, "He's asking if there are any other places down here to look and he's right, there are! There's other floors and other rooms!"
"Where would you suggest?"
"Well the room that Time found the Lens of Truth in is in that direction. There was a Dead Hand there last time though. Plus there's an entire floor filled with Redeads and acid water."
"How exciting." Ravio said dryly.
"Let's try the room up here first." Medli suggested. Navi bobbed again, flying ahead of them to lead the way.
After a moment she stopped at a door. Flute took a deep breath, readying his sword, before they opened it.
The room was empty. Flute's shoulders sank in disappointment.
"That was anticlimactic." Irene frowned.
"I don't sense anything in there." Medli whispered.
"Sense?"
She nodded, "I don't know how to use all my Sage powers yet, but if I try really hard, I can sense when things are nearby. It's easier when they're touching the ground though. It's hard to explain, but I think it's because I'm the Sage of Earth?"
"That makes sense." Navi agreed, "So, downstairs now?"
"Downstairs."
Navi flew down the hall again, leading them around the traps and false walls and floors. Eventually they got to a ladder, leading through a darkened pit to the floor below. Most of the path was dark, but there was a soft light at the bottom, illuminating the bottom rungs of the ladder.
"So…Redeads and acid water?"
"Yep."
"Lucky us."
Irene rolled her eyes, reaching for the ladder, "Cowards!"
The witch climbed down at a brisk pace. Flute rolled his eyes playfully before following her.
She stopped when she got to the bottom, staring around at everything.
It was just like Navi had described. Acid water, a sickly green color, covered the floor with planks stretched across it to create a labyrinth of bridges to get across it. All around the room were Redeads, moaning eerily.
But, right in the center of the planks, creating the soft glow they had seen from the ladder, was a chunk of gold. It looked like a puzzle piece, with one side perfectly straight, and was floating a foot above the ground.
"There it is!" Irene said in an excited whisper.
"Yeah, surrounded by Redeads." Ravio whispered back, looking nervously at the nearest one. They were all huddled at the bottom of the ladder so they hadn't been seen yet.
"I wish I'd made Time teach me that song!" Flute groaned, regretting it.
"Does anyone remember how it goes? Maybe we could try to recreate it?" Medli suggested.
"And risk getting it wrong?" Irene said, "That would just make us a beacon for all the Redeads here!"
"I know the notes to the song, but only for the ocarina. I don't know about harps or flutes." Navi said sadly.
"Can we fight them all?"
Ravio shook his head. "I gave my flame rod to Mr. Hero, otherwise it would be really easy."
"You can kill them with a sword, but if they scream and paralyze you…" Navi's voice trailed off and the rest of them shuddered at the thought.
"What about-Irene?!" Flute burst out as loudly as he dared.
The group spun, watching as the witch carefully navigated her way around another Redead, making sure to stay out of its line of sight. She smiled at them over her shoulder before moving down the next plank.
"This is a really stupid idea!" Navi hissed.
Irene shrugged. 'You were taking too long.' she mouthed at them.
They watched with bated breath as she paused, figuring out how to get around the next one. A moment later, she hopped over to a nearby plank, arms out as she wavered to catch her balance.
Ravio let out a sigh of relief when she did, inching closer and closer towards the Triforce piece.
Irene's hand closed around the small golden object and suddenly the room burst with a golden light, blinding them for a second, before it condensed into the small piece in the witch's hand, no longer glowing.
She smiled, holding it up for them to see.
Then it all fell apart.
The Redeads let out a piercing scream all at once, freezing them where they stood. At the same time, large white hands burst out from the ground all around the room, reaching and scrambling for anything near.
"Oh no!" Navi cried, "The Dead Hand!"
None of them could see what she meant, still immobilized by the scream. That didn't stop her though.
"Irene, move, it's coming right towards you! Irene!"
The witch gritted her teeth, fighting against the effects as quickly as she could.
Navi and Sheerow flew around in the air frantically. Spirit leapt out of Flute's pocket, watching with worry. A strange creature, shaped like a pale lump of clay, was slowly making its way over to Irene. The water didn't seem to affect it, moving slowly through the liquid like it wasn't there. The head bent forward at an unnatural angle, the jaw opening.
"Guys, she needs help, hurry!" Spirit turned to look at her friends, but they were still frozen.
"Link-Flute, hurry up!" Momentarily forgetting what she was, Spirit darted forward, accidently passing through Flute instead of shaking his shoulder like she had planned.
It was like a bucket of water had been tossed over him, shocking him out of the stupor the scream had put him in. Flute shook his head, taking in the sight in front of him in shock.
"Irene! Move!"
Spirit smiled and turned to the others, passing through them as quickly as she could to get them back to normal.
Irene couldn't see that. All she knew was that she was still frozen to the spot, the eerie scream still racing down her spine and holding her in one place.
"Hey!" someone called out, "Leave her alone!"
There was a pained grunt from somewhere behind her and the next thing she knew, Irene was being lifted into the air. Something sharp had hold of her shoulders, digging painfully into her skin.
The pain brought her back to the present and she jerked around.
"H-Hold still!" Medli panted above her, "I can't h-hold on very w-well!"
The Rito girl had latched onto Irene's shoulders, flapping her wings furiously to fly them back to the ladder. Flute stood there, aiming an arrow towards whatever was behind them. A quick glance showed it was some sort of zombie creature, an arrow already sticking out of one shoulder.
"Hurry!" Ravio called out.
"Start getting up the ladder, now!" Navi told him, bouncing against his head to try to force him up there. "The Redeads are coming too! We need to get out of here!"
"I'll hold them off, get up there!" Flute yelled, letting loose another arrow.
Medli made it to their group, collapsing, out of breath. The girl was shaking, both from a mix of the effort it took to fly them both and from the adrenaline.
"Thanks, but we've got to hurry!" Irene said to her, grabbing her arm and hauling them towards the ladder. Ravio was already halfway up, glancing down at them with every step.
"Flute!"
"I'm coming, go!"
Irene pushed Medli towards the ladder, hurrying up after her. Spirit hovered near, watching with concern as Flute continued to fire arrow after arrow.
"Hurry up!" Irene yelled down as they neared the top.
"Just go, I've got a plan!"
Ravio made it to the top, leaning down to help Medli up. A moment later he reached down, grabbing Irene's hand and dragging her up.
"Flute!"
He turned, racing up the ladder. Halfway there, he reached into his bag, pulling out a blue orb. Redeads were swarming the bottom of the ladder, mouths open and ready to let out another scream.
Flute dropped the item he was holding, racing even faster up the ladder.
"Run!" he cried.
There was a flash in the horde of monsters as he made it to the top.
He grabbed Medli and Ravio, pulling them behind him as he ran down the hall. Irene followed, heart pounding in her chest.
Not a second later there was a loud 'BANG!'
The ground shook under their feet, smoke billowing from behind them.
"Did you just blow up the well?!"
"Maybe?!"
"The well we are currently in?!"
"I was trying to stop the dozens of zombies from following us!"
"That was a horrible plan!"
"Do you see any of them following us?!"
As if to spite him, another arm burst forth from the ground ahead of them, flailing around to try to grab them.
"Horrible plan!" Navi repeated.
"We don't have time to argue about it right now!" Ravio yelled, barely dodging the arm.
Flute groaned, swiping his sword at it near the ground.
It separated from whatever body was underneath that they couldn't see, dropping lifelessly to their feet.
"This way!" Navi flew ahead of them.
They sprang back into action, stumbling down the uneven stone hallway. More arms shot out from the floor, from the walls, from the ceiling.
There wasn't enough time to fight all of them, the group dodging and ducking as quickly as they could.
One hand grabbed Medli's hair, yanking her backwards, but Flute swung his sword again and the arm flopped to the ground.
"There!" Spirit cried, pointing to the hole in the wall they had crawled through.
Irene reached it first, practically sliding on the ground as she dove for it. She crawled through the tight space as quickly as she could, Medli right behind her.
"Flute!" Spirit called out again.
He spun around, seeing the Dead Hand moving towards them. Its red eyes shown, zeroed in on him.
"I think your bomb just made him mad!" Ravio yelled, voice filled with panic.
Flute almost rolled his eyes, instead pushing him to the hole, "I'll deal with him, just get out!"
Ravio looked between the hole and the Dead Hand before nodding and rushing for it.
"Link…" Spirit whispered next to him.
"It's fine." he whispered back, holding his sword out. He had to wait for Ravio to get clear before he could leave. "Go ahead."
"I'm not leaving you!"
The Dead Hand was closer now, jaw opening. He knew that once it attacked, it would be blindingly quick.
Flute waited until the last moment, then dove to the side as the Dead Hand snapped its jaw forward, biting down on the empty air where he had been standing. He rolled, absorbing the impact and bringing himself back to his feet. Quickly he lurched forward, stabbing his sword towards its body. Normally the ribs would've been right there, but he felt no resistance.
Flute moved, yanking his sword out and slashing over and over again, trying to do as much damage as he could.
The Dead Hand screamed, neck stretched towards the ceiling. Flute slashed at it, decapitating it. The room shook again.
He didn't wait to see if it was actually dead or just regenerating. Flute threw himself into the hole in the wall, scrambling with his elbows, knees, hands, anything he could to move him forward as quickly as he could.
A pair of hands reached in and he stretched, just barely grabbing him.
Someone yanked and then he was sliding out, falling into someone's arms as they rolled onto the floor. The ground shook again, the small tunnel collapsing just a few seconds after he cleared it.
Flute panted, looking up to see Sky holding him. Spirit hovered above them, a relieved smile on her face.
The entire group was down there at the bottom of the well, more than half of them covered in dirt and grime.
"You guys ok?" Pipit asked, looking at all of them, concerned.
Irene nodded, grinning proudly as she held out the Triforce piece, "Yeah, but I vote that you guys have to get the next piece."