Chapter 6: The Heat Is On
Heat filled in throughout what appeared to be an underground cavern. A blue mosaic trail lies at the center of this cave, leading to the other end, with four statues of a creature with a long trunk with flames on it. Pools of lava lay ahead, surrounded by archways of odd designs and some floating platforms of rock hovering above the lava pools. Several Fire Keese flew high above the room.
"And I thought it was hot above ground," Fledge commented right before Fi exited the sword.
"Masters, you are now in the Earth Temple. Signs indicate it was built here because of the subterranean caverns below. Like at Skyview Temple, many defensive mechanisms were built here to discourage would-be intruders. I project you will encounter many fire-proficient monsters in this area. You can extinguish yourself by rolling or a spin attack if you catch fire. If you react calmly and quickly, there will be a minimal danger. Your current selection of pouch items is survival-focused. Suitability to your current location is 85%. You also have the option to explore using the Beetle Master Link. Are there any more questions?"
They all shook their heads, prompting Fi to return to the sword. They all walked ahead, jumping on the rock platforms to the other stable ground. A large Fire Chucu appeared from below the ground, which soon the group decimated. Several Fire Keese also met a similar fate when they tried to attack.
A voice called out to them from a small tunnel on the side. A Mogma appeared from below. It was the Cobal, the first Mogma they had met when they arrived.
"Oh, it's you guys again. Come all this way in search of your friend, eh? My partner's gone missing, and those red guys are everywhere! I never shoulda come here. That reminds me...Before I came in here, I saw a weird-looking blonde girl get dragged away. But don't even think about doing a rescue. Those baddies are everywhere! If you wanna live another day, you all should head home!"
With that, the Mogma dug back underground.
"Do you think that blonde girl he talked about is Zelda?" Karane quavered with worry in her eyes.
"If she is, then we need to get moving," Link urged as he and everyone else resumed their journey.
The other end of the room had a draw bridge. The arch of which had a design of a face, with the chains coming out of its nostrils, a design factor everyone else found...amusing. With the help of the Beetle item, they manage to lower the drawbridge. Fi then warmed them of new enemies just ahead, claiming to have a significant physical ability.
Welcoming them on the other side is a creature that is nothing like a Bokoblin. The creature's appearance is that of a lizard, body covered with green scales. It is dressed in a red loin cloth. A giant ball with a spike is attached at the end of its tail. One of the creature's arms is equipped with a large metal gauntlet.
"Let me handle this." Link stepped forward, gaining the creature's attention. "Fi, what is that?"
"This is a Lizalfos. This unmistakable monster is equipped with an armed guard made of hard iron. Great physical prowess makes it difficult to predict its movements. You will need to anticipate the direction of its arm guard to successfully land an attack on the exposed angle."
The Lizalfos stared down Link, both opponents circling one another. Link made the first strike, but it was blocked by the monster's arm guard. It jumped back, breathing fire out of its mouth that barely missed Link. It then tried to attack him with its spike ball. Thankfully, the green-clad senior knight blocked it with his shield, knocking the creature off balance. Link used the opportunity to strike the monster many times before taking it down for good. Like previously slain monsters, it disappeared in purple smoke, leaving its tail behind.
"It's safe now," Link called to his companions.
"You look like you had some trouble," Karane stated.
"Tougher than the usual Bokoblins, but I managed."
"Well, you are the best swordsman at the Knight Academy after all," Pipit proudly stated. "What's our next move?"
"The map shows an exit across the room." Link points across to where there was a stone carving of an admittedly terrifying creature. When they reached the middle of the room, they could see the exit on elevated ground, with the pathway blocked by large rocks. "Figures...Of course, it wouldn't be easy."
"How are we going to cross it?" Fledge questioned.
"There's another door on my side with an unblocked path." Karane pointed to her side, which showed another door with two stone carvings of lizard heads on each side, with the door having a circle design with a blue gem at the center.
"Fledge, why don't you and I go check it out. Karane, you and Pipit look around to see if you can find a way to the door," Link instructed.
The green senior knight and orange-clad student parted away from their group. They made their way over to the large door. In the corner of his eye, Fledge notices a patch of bomb flowers.
"There's some bomb flowers over here, Link. We could use those to blow those rocks.
"Maybe, but at this distance, we can't make it over there in time before it blows in our faces. Hopefully, they'll be something over here."
A Mogma dug up several feet away from the pair. He looked around, worried in his eyes. "Blast! I must have dropped it!"
"Ledd?" Link called to the Mogma.
"Hey! Nice timing. The both of ya showing up here must mean we're connected somehow. You know, like fate or something. Anyways, do me a favor and get my Bomb Bag, okay?"
"Why?" Link questioned the Mogma.
"I was behind that door looking for treasure when those creeps showed up. I panicked and hit the road, but it looks like I dropped it," Ledd explained to the pair. "It's a bag for carrying around bomb flowers. I can't imagine not having one. Oh, hey...I guess I don't have to imagine it, 'cause I lost mine! Anyway, it's back there...Do me a favor and get my Bomb Bag back, will you?"
The pair went through the stone door. The room had hexagon platforms connected by a larger one in the middle. Several gusts of lava flew up. There were more strange carvings. A loud clang echoed off behind the pair. Metal bars covered the door, preventing their exit. Looking again at the center of the room, they can see two Lizalfos. The lizard monsters marched over to the pair, one stretching its arm guard while the other cracked its knuckles.
"Shit! Fledge, stay there!" Link commanded.
"But there's two of them! You barely held out against one!" Fledge tried to argue, but Link had already run to the battle platforms.
The two Lizalfos put all their focus on Link. Him going against a singular Lizalfos, he was doing well. It's when the second decided to jump in that it got difficult for the green-clad senior knight. They all repeated the process of Link fighting one of the monsters, the other one jumping it once Link knocked its partner back, leaving him putting all his attention on it. At the same time, the previous one took that time to recover, jumping back into the fight once Link knocked back the other one.
At one point, the Lizalfos, that weren't engaged in the fight, decided to do something different. It eyed its spike ball and then back to Link, its eyes filled with malicious intent. Fledge knew he had to make a move. Otherwise, those monsters would hurt Link. Acting impulsively, the timid student picked up a rock, ran to the platform's edge, and threw it at the creature's head before it could execute a spin attack on Link.
The Lizalfos rubbed its head, turning it over to where the rock came from. It stared at Fledge, its eyes filled with pure rage now. Slowly but shakily, Fledge pulled out his sword & shield. The Lizalfos ran over to him, breathing bursts of fire outwards, giving Fledge little time to move away. He moves to strike the creature, only for it to get blocked by its arm guard. The Lizalfos stuck its tongue mockingly before executing a punch attack, hitting Fledge on his side.
Fledge clutched his side, letting out a small painfilled moan as he lay on the ground. The Lizalfos stood directly above him. It lifted its arm guard above, moving it down at high speed. Fledge lifted his sword in a desperate attempt to block the attack. Instead of any impact, the creature let out a pained shriek. The tip of the blade came peaked from the center of its chest. Falling to the ground revealed Link behind.
"You okay?" Link extended his hand to Fledge.
"I think so." Fledge looked around as Link helped him, realizing the other Lizalfos were gone.
"Why did you jump in? I told you to stay put."
"That other one was going to hit you with its tail. I had to do something! I didn't want to stand by while something bad happened to you...again."
Link's firm expression softened up once realization struck him. "Fledge...what happened to Epona on The Wing Ceremony wasn't your fault."
"I know, but...I knew Groose wouldn't go through with his threat to me, but I felt so powerless. I knew I should've told you, yet I was too scared to say anything. I was a coward. I felt ashamed I could do something this time but couldn't even take down that Lizalfos. Guess I'm a failure in that department too."
"You're anything but a failure. I'm sorry for how I reacted, but that was because I was worried. Now, you helped me a lot by taking that other Lizalfos attention away from me. And you stood your ground long enough. That's more of an achievement than a failure. You'll get better. I know it."
A small smile grew across Fledge's lips. His eyes found themselves at the center of the room. "Was that chest there before?"
"No, but I think I know what might be inside."
Sure enough, when they opened the chest revealed a blue bag with a picture of a bomb flower on it.
"This must be the Bomb Bag," Link stated.
"You know, now that we have something to safely carry those bombs, there's a good chance we can get to places we haven't explored yet. Maybe we can ask Ledd if he would lend it to us," Fledge suggested.
Exiting the now unblocked door, the pair were greeted by Pipit & Karane.
"You two okay? We heard a loud noise and rushed over here, but the door was blocked," Pipit said to them.
"Just retrieving something from some Lizalfos," Link answered. "Is Ledd around?"
"Right here!" The Mogma called out. "And you got my Bomb Bag!"
"Could you maybe next time warn us about the two Lizalfos?" Fledge suggested as he rubbed his side.
"Oh, right. I should have done that. Sorry to put you both through that. I guess I owe you now! So let me have it."
"Actually...we were wondering if you could let us borrow it so we can go deeper into the volcano?" Link requested.
"What's this, now? You want to borrow it so you can go deeper into the volcano?" Ledd parroted.
"We kinda need it to find our friend, and the way to her is blocked." Fledge pointed to the blocked path.
"Oh, right. You're looking for your friend. You sure have put yourselves out there, getting this far. That reminds me! Have you seen Cobal? Is he doing okay?"
"He's uh...worried," Fledge trailed off.
"He's worried? About me? What kind of pal am I, putting him through that? You all must be worried too. Not knowing if your friend's dead or alive. You know what? I'm not letting you borrow my bag. Nope. I'm GIVING it to you!"
"You don't have to do that," Link told him, but the Mogma waved him off.
"I could always make myself another one. Just promise me you all will take good care of it. And don't blow yourselves up."
"That's very kind of you. Thank you," Fledge gave a grateful smile.
"Not a problem! Now you've got my Bomb Bag, you can go find your friend! Oh, and another thing before you go. Knowing me, that bag's probably empty, so you fill it up before going on. That bag can hold up to ten bombs. So if you run across bomb flowers, be sure to fill up the bag. Good luck!"
Once Ledd was gone, Fledge let out another small groan.
"You okay?" Karane asks.
"One of those Lizalfos punched me with his arm guard. I can still breathe, so I don't think anything is broken."
"Alright, but you should drink a red potion and try to take it easy just to be safe. Let me know if the pain gets worse."
"I will. I can see why you insisted I wear chainmail, Pipit."
"I told you it works wonders!" Pipit exclaimed
With that done, Link filled the bag with the Bomb Flowers. Then they returned to the blocked path. Link took a bomb out and threw it on top of the rocks. Seconds later, the flower exploded, freeing the pathway from the stones. They all entered the next room.
A steep hill lay ahead. When they all took one step, the contraptions above let down large boulders of rocks coming straight at them. Once they were safe, they looked around for a clue to pass. They soon found a ledge to stay safely while the boulders ran down. Once the group safely traversed above, they found another steep ridge with the same contraption. Except this one was covered with rocks. Thanks to keen observation, Link saw a ledge close enough to throw a bomb flower to uncover the stones, allowing them a safe journey.
At the top of the hill lies a giant statue of a dragon head with lava pouring out of its mouth. Behind the pouring lava lies a sizeable golden door with a weird symbol.
"That door looks similar to the one back at Skyview Temple, but it has some sort of weird shape," Karane examined.
"That's because it's a keyhole. We need to find a key to unlock it," Link revealed to her.
"Seriously? Another key?" Pipit stated. "Where would it be?"
"It would be in a white chest with a red gem. It should be around here."
"Is it the one at the top of the hill behind us?" Fledge pointed to a small hill. Below the other dragon statue below is a chest fitting Link's description.
"Yeah...That looks like it."
"I'll go get it!" Fledge started making his way up the hill before Link could say anything.
"This doesn't feel right..."
"Why are you so nervous?" Karane took notice of Link's uneasy demeanor.
"When I found the key at Skyview, I had to go through an elaborate path just to get it."
"Maybe whoever designed the temple wanted to be nice?" Pipit suggested.
"Somehow, I think that's not the case." Link brings his concerned gaze to his young friend walking up the hill.
Fledge soon made his way up the top. The chest was right there, waiting to be opened. Inside the chest was a Dragon Sculpture. It's a carving of a coiled dragon made out of dazzling gold.
"Weird thing to use a key, but I'm sure we'll figure it out." Fledge went to the edge of the top, holding the key above. "I got it, guys! I'm coming back down!" After only taking a few steps, the room suddenly shook. Turning back, he saw the dragon statue that oversaw the chest open its mouth, letting out a giant rolling boulder.
"Uh oh…"
"RUN, FLEDGE!" His friend's voice in the distance called out.
Clutching the gold carving in his arms, the student ran like he had never run before. He jumped from the ledge at the end, ignoring the stairs on the side, landing on his friends as the large boulder leaped into the dragon statue's mouth, stopping the lava flow. Fledge's heavy breaths echoed as he rolled off his friends, maintaining a death grip on the key. The dragon head statue closed its mouth.
"Are you okay, Fledge?" He heard Link ask him through his heavy breaths.
"That depends. Am I dead?"
"Still very much alive, buddy."
"Thank goodness." Fledge sat right up, holding out the carving. "I got the key."
"You sure did."
"Maybe you should stick to getting any future keys from this point, Link."
"I will." Link took the key from Fledge's grip.
"Well...now that's taken care of, how are we gonna use that to get through that door?" Pipit wondered.
"We must align this carving to match the door's shape."
They all spent the next several minutes trying to match the carving to the door shape. Link pushed it into the hole when they did, giving it a glow before it split in half. Everyone stood still as the doors slowly opened.
They entered the chamber. Up ahead lies a curving pathway. They all jumped at the sound of the door slamming shut behind them. Walking up to the top of the stairs, the giant boulder from before rolled across a path that resembled a rib cage.
"I have a bad feeling about this..." Fledge's voice echoed out through the whole room.
A chain caught their sites. Fi appeared when they went over to inspect it.
"Masters, I detect Zelda's aura in the surrounding area. I detect an especially strong reaction from this chain. I calculated the probability that Zelda was bound by it recently at 95%."
"She was what?" Karane exclaimed.
"Those bastards...If they hurt her-" Link seethed, disgusted at the mere thought of Zelda chained up like some animal. How dare they do that to someone as sweet as her?
"Did she escape?" Pipit questioned.
"I surmise Zelda was somehow able to escape and proceed along this path. I suggest we continue with all possible speed." Fi went back to the sword, leaving the humans alone.
Link took a moment to calm himself down, soothed at the news of Zelda being able to escape. "Let's move quickly."
They leaped down the end of a long ramp. They all proceed to jog to the top. However, when they reached only halfway, cheerful dark laughter echoed off the room's walls. Glaring down, standing on top of another statue of a dragon head, is the Demon Lord, Ghirahim.
"Oh, it's you. Let me see." He hummed. "No, that's not it. This is so very embarrassing, but I seem to be at a loss for your names. Not that it matters, really. To tell you the truth, I'm feeling a bit frustrated, and right now, I just need someone to vent to. I heard my underlings had finally captured The Spirit Maiden, so of course, I rushed over here. What can I say? I was excited. Flustered, even."
Disgusted stirred up in the human's guts. Link was the angriest. This guy had the nerve to gloat about capturing his best friend.
"But what did I find when I arrived? That agent of the goddess…She had once again...You see, what I'm trying to say is…" The Demon Lord spoke as if trying to contain his anger, but they quickly fell. "THAT GODDESS-SERVING BITCH ESCAPED WITH THE GIRL! I MUST have The Spirit Maiden in order to resurrect my master! I MUST HAVE HER!"
"Like hell he is!" Karane hissed as her eyes glared at the Demon Lord.
"I got a little carried away there, didn't I?" Ghirahim continued on in a calmer matter. "I don't deal well with... complications to plans I've laid out so carefully. It's a character flaw of mine. Ah, but something good can still come from this day! I've had all this bottled-up anger smoldering inside me, and now I can release it."
"Then why don't you come here, and we can help you with that!" Link taunted.
"Is that really a good idea, Link?" Fledge said with uncertainty.
"C'mon, Fledge. There are four of us and only one of him. We can easily take him down." Pipit turned towards Ghirahim's direction. "Unless he's too afraid to come down here himself!"
"Please, I'm anything but afraid of you humans. I just have better things to do than waste my time. I can take you all down with the snap of my fingers."
"Then why are you up there away from us?" Karane yelled out. "That's not a good look for you, pal! Do you know what that makes you look like? A cowardly little bitch!"
Ghirahim seemed taken aback by Karane's statement, almost offended by her words. "A cowardly little…? Such vulgar words coming from a child! Haven't your parents taught you that it's rude to swear?! Such improper manners! Perhaps I can help remedy that...There's a special friend I'd like you all to meet."
"Friend? Last time he introduced us to his friends, I almost got cleaved in half by Bokoblins," Fledge quivered in place.
"Oh, don't be shy! He can help with your poor manners. Not to mention I need to vent all this unhealthy anger, and your agony is such a great stress reliever. I consider that to be a win-win for both of us. It won't take more than a few moments with my friend before you're all charred to a satisfying crisp. And let me tell you, that will put a spring in my step!"
Snapping his fingers, the Demon Lord vanished. The dragon head statue opened its mouth, releasing the large boulder down the ramp.
"Not again…!" Fledge muttered.
"Everyone move!" Link commanded.
Each member jumped to one side of the ramp, watching the boulder roll to the bottom. Cracks grew on the boulder before they glowed with lava. Six skinny legs broke out of the cracked boulder. A horizontal line grew across the boulder, revealing its mouth. It let out a terrifying shriek before charging up to the group.
"Get to the top!" Link yelled, prompting his friend and himself to run. "Talk to me, Fi! What is that?"
"This is Scaldera. This fearsome monster inhabits the deepest recesses of the Earth Temple. It can be categorized as a Pyroclastic Fiend. Its body is completely covered in rock, but you can see its weak point, the eye, through the cracks in this outer shell. If you are able to remove parts of this creature's rock shell, you will vastly increase your probability of success."
"Right, find a way to break its shell. But with what?"
They all reached the top. A door with the crest of the goddess is laid at the end of it. They all attempted to open it, but it would not budge.
"It won't open!" Pipit yelled frantically as he tried to open it.
"What we do then?!" Fledge trembled.
None of them answered as Scaldera reached the top. Before it could get them, a small explosion went off near his foot, causing it to roll back to the hill. They all could see the source of the blast.
"A Bomb Flower? How did we not see that?!" Karane exclaimed.
They all watch Scaldera roll to the bottom. It then opened its mouth to suck in the air before spitting out a massive ball of fire. An idea came into Link's head as they jumped out of the way. The green-clad senior knight stood still as he watched Scaldera make its trek up the hill. Like before, its feet stepped on the bomb flower, causing it to fall back.
"Follow me, guys!" Link ran down the middle of the ramp, once again missing the giant fireball spewed from Scaldera. He pulled out the Bomb Bag. "Okay, when he gets close range, one of you throw a bomb at it!"
"At close range? Are you nuts?!" Pipit protested at him.
Link slammed the bag onto the yellow-clad senior knight. "Just do it!"
Scaldera treks up the hill at high speed. When it got close, Pipit threw the bomb flower at it, knocking it down. When Scaldera started sucking up air, Link grabbed a bomb and ran down with it. He threw it into the monster's mouth, and it sucked up it. Link used his sword to slice against it several times before Scaldera got back up, chasing him. The bomb exploded, causing pieces of its rocky shell to break off, exposing its red eye.
"I think I know what he's doing! He wants us to throw a bomb at it so it can roll back down. Then he can take another bomb as it sucks in the air!" Karane concluded as she pulled out a bomb flower herself.
With Link leading the monster to the middle of the hill while one of his friends threw a bomb at it, Link would take a bomb to throw into the creature's mouth. They all repeated the same process about four times. Each time the monster became more exposed. On the sixth attempt at doing this process, Fledge reached into the bag only for a panicked face to grow on his face.
"What's wrong?" Link called out.
"There's no more bombs in here!" Fledge panicked.
"We'll have to refill at the top!" Karane said.
"Hurry!" Pipit urged.
They all dashed to the top with Scaldera hot on their heels. Suddenly the monster lifted itself high above, catching Fledge off guard. He tripped on the ground as Scaldera chased his friends. It then slammed down on the floor, rolling straight at him quickly. The student had barely had enough time to move out of the way.
"That's the third time today I almost got crushed, and I don't think it hasn't even been fifteen minutes," Fledge thought to himself as he lay on the ground.
"FLEDGE BEHIND YOU!" The panicked voices of his friends echoed in his ears.
Scaldera stood right in front of Fledge. The student remained in his spot, too terrified to move. Scaldera opened its mouth to suck in the air, along with him. Fledge tried to run, but the force of the Scaldera was too strong. Just when it seemed Fledge would be dinner, Link came running down, throwing a bomb into the creature's mouth.
Once knocked down, Link struck the creature's eye many more times. Finally, the monster let out a pained shriek as it dropped to the ground. Its skin turned black before it exploded, leaving no trace behind.
"Thank you, Link." Fledge slowly got back to his feet. "Sorry, I got left behind…I wasn't watching my footing."
"I'm just happy you're okay. Try to be more careful next time." Link patted Fledge's shoulder. "Between you distracting that Lizalfos, and me saving you from becoming that thing's snack, I think that makes us even now."
"Yeah. I guess it does."
"You two okay?" Pipit asked as the pair made it to the top.
"I am, thanks to Link here," Fledge confirmed.
"Let's see what's through that door," Link suggested.
Like back at Skyview, the door vanished, showing them the pathway. Everyone found themselves in another spring designed similarly to the one at Skyview, with stone pillars leading them to the smaller state of the goddess. Though instead of a wide-open sky surrounded by life, it was surrounded by a rocky surface. Nonetheless, it was peaceful and beautiful all the same.
The sound of a harp echoed off the walls of the spring. On the top of the stairs leading to the spring were two figures. One resembles the tall, mysterious woman they all saw on their way to the Earth Temple, though this time, her cape is gone. The other is a shorter girl with blonde hair in a white dress, purple bracelets, and two braids held with the same material of the bracelets who was playing the harp. She finished her melody as a glowing pillar about the size of a person appeared.
The mysterious woman gestures to the girl to walk through the glowing pillar. Upon looking closely at the girl, Link realizes who she is.
"Zelda?"
Zelda stopped in place as she heard the familiar voice. A warm smile grew on her lips as she saw her friend. "Link? Is that you?"
"Zelda!" Link exclaimed.
"You're okay! And is that...Karane, Pipit, and...Fledge? You're all here?"
"We are, Zel," Karane spoke with so much relief seeing her friend alive & well.
"Been a tough road, but now we're all back together," Pipit followed.
"We were so worried about you!" Fledge stated as well.
They all ran to the stairs leading to their friend.
"I can't believe it. You're all really here. I missed you all so much!" Zelda attempted to meet up with them, only for the woman's arm to block her way, prompting everyone to stop.
"You cannot go to them, Your Grace," The woman told her. "Remember what we discussed. Restrain yourself. Focus on the task at hand."
The four students just stood in confusion. Why wasn't Zelda going back with them? What was the woman talking about? Why is she calling Zelda 'your grace'?"
Zelda gazes at her friends with a sorrowful expression before transitioning to a serious one. "Right...of course." The girl turned away from her friends. "I...I have to go. I'm sorry, guys." She told them, voice filled with regret.
Zelda stepped into the glowing pillar, disappearing from the room. As the woman accompanying her was about to step in, Link sprinted towards her, followed by Karane.
"Wait! Where are you going?" Link called out.
"Who are you? What do you want with our friend?" Karane demanded.
The woman responds with a piercing glare of her crimson eyes, causing them to stop in place. If looks could kill, they would've been dead on the spot.
"Not one step further," the woman spoke to them as if she were...disappointed. "You and your companions took FAR too long to get here. Looking at you, I fear the goddess is mistaken in her choice of agents. If this failure is any indication, you have no hope of defending Her Grace from those who seek to assail her."
"Cut him some slack! He did everything he could to come over here!" Karane barked at the woman.
"We just had to deal with a giant fiery boulder trying to kill us!" Pipit retorted. "Where were you at?"
"Doing my duty, unlike you. I had hopes that with you accompanying the hero, you would've kept in check about the task. If you cared for Zelda that much, you would've put all your effort into getting here quicker. But it seems like you three failed just the same as he did. That truly speaks a lot."
The room grew quiet, with only the sounds of the waterfalls echoing off the walls.
"Do my words anger you, young ones? Do my words sting? Let them. If I had not come when I did, your Zelda would already have fallen to the hands of the enemy. The truth of it is you were late. You were ALL late and failed to protect her."
All three senior knights stood in shock while Fledge kept his head down. Link was unsure what to say as the woman continued speaking. The woman's tone softens from harsh to firm tone.
"I sent Zelda ahead to learn more of the fate in which she is destined to play a part. Listen well, chosen one. If you and your friends wish to be a help to Her Grace, you must summon a shred of courage and face the trails laid out before you. Only when you've conquered the trials will you be of use to Zelda. No sooner. Am I understood?"
With that, the woman walked into the glowing pillar, disappearing just as Zelda did. The bright pillars dissipate, leaving the four students alone in the spring. Silence lingers for several moments as they process the woman's words.
"I...I didn't realize how serious this is," Link muttered.
"This isn't your fault, Link," Pipit assured him. "We're partially responsible somehow. Maybe I got a little excited about finding the Rupees."
"And maybe I shouldn't have spent so much time messing with the bomb flowers," Karane added.
"I appreciate you guys trying to take some blame, but that woman was right." Link lowered his head. "I should've put more effort into getting to Zelda quicker. Instead, I was late like I always am."
"Then we'll just have to do better," Fledge said. "We now realize how important this quest is that should motivate us to do better."
"Fledge is right. Just because we lost the battle doesn't mean the war is over," Karane stated.
"I don't know how, but we'll do better. We'll prove that woman wrong," Pipit declared.
"You're right..." Link spoke after several minutes. "I'm not going to let some strange person bring us down. I swear I WILL do better."
"Now there's the Link we all know and love!"
"While it is good that all of you strive to be more efficient on this quest, I must remind you that you must listen to the message at the end of the spring."
"Oh, right. Thanks, Fi," Link told her.
Everyone went to the statue at the end of the spring. Like Link did at Skyview, he hit the crest of the goddess with a skyward strike. The now purple crest glowed, and Fi hovered above the water.
"Masters, I have a message written in the language of the gods of old. Allow me to translate for you." Fi then started dancing across the water like back at the previous temple.
"From the edge of time, I guide you, the one destined to carry out the goddess's mission. The Spirit Maiden who descended from the clouds has passed through the Earth Spring and makes her way to a fated place."
Fi then concluded the message by twirling around the statue like last time.
"The parched desert to Lanayru...That is where the chosen will pass through the Gate of Time into a distant world."
A glowing object appeared from the statue and floated toward Link's hands. It is another old stone tablet with an amber gem this time.
"Guess that's where we're heading next," Pipit's voice echoed off.
"In that case, we should head back to Skyloft," Karane suggested.
Link stared at the water. Glancing up at the statue, he imagined Zelda there precisely as she was on the day of The Wing Ceremony. She turned back, giggling as she smiled back at him. He smiled back.
The woman's reprimanding words repeated over and over in his head. While they made him feel unpleasant, they were oddly motivating. It filled him with a sense of determination. While he might not know precisely what this quest is about, he realizes it must be crucial. He will prove that woman wrong, and he will do better. They all will do better for Zelda.
"Link, are you coming?" Fledge called out to him.
"Oh, right! Wait up!" Link and his friends made their way out of the spring.
Well...not the reunion they were hoping for, but at least they now know Zelda is okay. And we're done with Eldin for the moment. Next chapter is going to have the gang doing some recharging at Skyloft, with some interesting minor events.
As you notice I skipped the part of acquiring the Dungeon Map. That's the direction I want go with in terms with dealing with the dungeons. I mostly want to stick with them getting the special item and finding way to the boss.
Favs, Follows, and Reviews are appreciated. Also Happy Halloween!