"The volcano has stopped erupting!" Ciela noted when they landed outside the entrance. "I bet it's because you all destroyed all the monsters. Come on guys! What are you waiting for? Let's go tell Astrid the good news."
"Alright." Luna said as we headed out and back to Astrids where we found Linebeck.
"Hey!" He said. "So you were able to defeat all the monsters? Well, Astrid is waiting!"
"Well done!" Astrid said. "You defeated the power of darkness. Thus you've broken the seal that imprisoned the spirit you needed to move ahead. Ultimately you will need three spirits. Power, Wisdom, and Courage. When you have all three you will possess the power to find the ghost ship. Now two spirits remain. But their locations are veiled to me at present! I see...another clue for you to find in the temple of the Ocean King on Mercay. And to further your efforts I give you this. May it help you in battle. That's a spirit gem...there are many for each spirit. Find as many as you can...I see that, somewhere on the seas, you can raise a spirits power for ten gems. The light that seeks your aid grows weaker still. There's no time to lose."
"You actually did it! Now we're one step closer to getting rich." Linebeck said. "Hoo haw, I'm excited!"
"Uhh, he's so self centered." Ciela complained.
"Well I sense he will prove to be an asset, and not an anchor...in time."
"I hope you're right." Saria said.
"Okay, let's set sail back for Mercay Island." Linkette agreed.
With that we returned to the boat and headed out, The others stopping by Beedle's on the way and getting a piece of pink coral, and a purple potion before we arrived and entered the Temple of the Ocean King and told by Oshus to stand on the alter for a way to stop the temple from draining us.
"I'll do it." I said running up, causing the hourglass to float in the air and be temporarily covered by a stream of sand.
"Now Link!" Oshus called from the ground floor. "Take the hourglass!"
"Hurry up!" Navi yelled flying around the hourglass, " The faster we do this the faster we can return to our quest. Stop being a slowpoke!"
"Stop nagging so much." I said waving my hand at her only for her to dodge and me to accidentaly knock the hourglass to the ground where it shattered. "Oh oh."
Suddenly I doubled over as I was covered in a stream of sand while feeling my body shift and change while becoming smaller.
When it stopped I looked at the others who were looking at me in shock.
"What happened?" I asked as Midna just showed me my reflection in her mirror, causing me to stare in shock at looking like my sister complete with an identical outfit before I spoke. "Why do I look like my sister Aryll's identical twin?"
"If your sister is Aryll, then as her twin: Should we call you Llyra?" Ember asked as I just nodded, too shocked to argue.
Oshus came up with the now repaired hourglass.
"This is the legendary Phantom Hourglass." He said before explaining how it works. "Unfortunately, as a mystical item, it does have protections. Protections that activated when it broke and deaged you, and made you your sisters twin. Older or younger I do not know."
"You are three hours, twenty seven minutes and fifty six seconds younger then your sister." Ciela said immediately before pausing. "Wait how do I know that?"
None of us knew, but it did lead to a problem. I was now to small to use a sword. In the end the others continued on while I left and spent the time on the beach the others found me.
"Now what do I do?" I asked outloud. "If I can't use my weapons then how can I save Tetra? Ahhh!"
I got so upset that I kicked the ground harder then a shovel. Which turned out to hit the top of a buried treasure chest that I opened to reveal a Golden Hyoi Pear. As in it was literally glowing gold.
Shrugging I decided to use it to control a seagull so I could let my emotions float away. What I was not expecting was for the golden Hyoi Pear to permanently bond me with a flock of six seagulls. I could feel their minds at all times and knew they would never leave me.
"I get the feeling this is why Aryll always has seagulls around her." I said with a smile as I checked to see what I could do with them. Which was a lot. The seagulls of this world were capable of dealing damage like an attack which let me get used to it. I still wanted to trap Navi in a bottle and throw it out to sea though.
As I spent more time training with the seagulls, I learned to control them with ease, calling them to me with a mental command or sending them out to scout ahead. Their sharp eyesight allowed me to see things I might have missed, and their sharp beaks dealt alot of damage to any monster that attacked us. The bond between us grew stronger with each passing hour, and I found myself relying on them more and more. Though even with my reduced size I was too heavy to fly with them but while I waited for the others to return in a few hours continued training.
I had just finished teaching them a new attack where they could work together to take down a particularly tough opponent and moved onto another technique where they could use their wings to create a protective barrier around me before moving on to a new technique that I hoped would be my ultimate technique.
This technique was where I would focus my magic on the seagulls and they merged with me, transforming me into a golden seagull that was alone, since all of us, me and the flock were merged as one. The next part of the technique was learning to control my golden seagull form which was the same size as a real seagull, and smaller then me even with my reduced size. Luckily I was used to controlling other seagulls thanks to Hyoi pears, but this would be my first time physically controlling a seagull body and not just mentally.
I practiced for hours, flapping my wings, gliding through the air, diving and swooping. The sun dipped below the horizon and the stars came out, but I didn't notice. I was too focused on mastering this form. Finally, I noticed the others returning and flew down to meet them when I realized I did not know how to land. Well that, and they did not know it was me or that I had seagulls since I got them after I left them. I just hope I did not crash.
Unfortunately I jinxed it as I crashed into Saria, sending us both tumbling to the ground with me on her stomach. I immediately felt terrible as I saw the others gasp in shock. I immediately turned back and apologized, while telling them about finding the golden Hyoi Pear, it permanently bonding me with the seagulls and then teaching them the techniques. They looked shocked but accepted it, even Saria who I had accidentally crashed into seemed to accept it.
"So, you're saying that you can control seagulls now?" she asked.
"Yes," I replied. "I don't have a flock when transformed but except for landings I think I've got it."
"You should practice some more just to make sure." Midna said.
It took me a while longer, but I finally mastered landing, and was ready to help the others on the quest.
