The interior of the Great Bay Temple was metallic and damp, its entry room rather small without much to see. There was a bit of the floor used for water, so the giant turtle was able to swim Link and Tatl a bit further into the chamber. "This is where we part ways." The massive animal said as the boy and fairy dismounted his back.
"What can we expect in here? What's the source of the curse?" Link asked, figuring this Temple wouldn't be any different from the others. There was something large and terrible lurking within the structure's bowels that he had to slay. He figured if the giant turtle truly knew everything that went on in the area, he'd have an idea.
"Good of you to ask, young hero." The giant turtle said with a chortle. "Long ago, there was a horrid and demonic fish called Gyorg. It devoured anything in its path, a truly monstrous being. It seems in recent times; it was brought back through a mysterious and dark magic."
Honestly, Link should have assumed it'd be some sort of sea creature he'd have to fight. He just wondered where it'd be in a Temple like this…maybe it was full of water just passed this room. A deceased monster brought back through dark magic like this…it reminded him of Volvagia. Was there any limit to what Majora's Mask allowed the Skull Kid to do?
It was terrifying, really. Ganondorf seemed like such a towering and invincible wielder of dark magic…yet the Skull Kid made him seem like a cheap magician in comparison. The imp managed to curse an entire ocean, presumably from the shore to the horizon, and maybe even further beyond. Far more than the Gerudo was able to do…and of course, there was the Moon that was slowly falling towards Clock Town…
"I see. Thank you for the information and for getting us here." Link responded, wondering if the Deep Pythons were larger than Gyorg or if the demonic fish managed to be even larger than they were. He then realized that was silly, Gyorg probably wouldn't be able to fit into the Temple if that were the case. Unless it was somehow larger on the inside than the outside, he was used to that sort of thing…
Speaking of the Temple, just the entry room was enough to unnerve the boy. It wasn't just the oppressive evil in the air that all these cursed places had. The metallic nature of the room, along with the entire Temple, was something disturbing to him. He didn't like the Gerudo's pirate fortress for the same reason, but at least in the outside areas, he could see the sky. Here, it was just depressing greys with only the torches to light the way. Link was even somewhat used to Hyrule Castle's cold stone nature, with its carpeted areas and windows at least offering views of the surrounding landscape.
This was just…unnatural.
"If you need to retreat to gather yourself, there is no shame in it." The turtle declared, taking Link out of his thoughts. "I will remain here until you return, young hero. If there were more I could do, I certainly would."
Not the first time a deity let Link down, and it'd be a surprise if it was the last. At the very least, the turtle was one of the least offensive examples and did more good than harm. "I can't turn back, I won't leave until Gyorg is killed." Link declared as he turned from the turtle and started to walk forward. He already fled once before, and he wasn't going to repeat that mistake.
Tatl flew by Link as he drew his sword and shield. "I hate to stop your roll, but look up in the corner." She pointed out a Stray Fairy off hovering near the ceiling, this one violet in color. "Looks like the Great Fairy here is broken too…"
He had forgotten entirely about having to deal with the Stray Fairies. Suppressing a sigh, he placed the Great Fairy Mask on and drew the lost creature to him. Link ignored its pleas to find the others as it shrank itself down into his bag. He assumed there'd be another fifteen in this Temple, so he'd be keeping his eye peeled.
With that, Link entered the next room without further interruption, pressing a panel next to the door to open it. As the two entered the next room, the boy felt his anxiety spike at what was there. Somehow, the door and wall suppressed a great deal of noise that this room let out! Gears and a massive water wheel were in the room, churning and grinding, metallic clanks and hums assaulting his ears! The splash of water as a geyser shot out of a large device, turning said water wheel, made Link look down and see the entire floor was covered in several feet of water. There wasn't much room to walk about, only some narrow walkways to move about and get him to the next door.
All this moving, living metal was distressing to Link! What was the purpose of such machinery?! It was an abomination to nature! He could hear the hardened material shrieking and scraping against each other as they fulfilled some unknown purpose. Link felt as though he was in the twisted innards of some monstrosity of a fish, as though the Temple itself was Gyorg! He had to resist throwing his hands to his ears, unable to comprehend the twisting, turning guts of the structure that kept moving before him.
"Geez, it's really loud!" Tatl shouted out, used to more advanced technology than Link was, so this wasn't so anxiety-inducing. Though with her being smaller, the sound hurt her ears more than with Link. "I don't think we should mess with this stuff; we should just move forward!" She yelled, covering her ears.
The boy didn't reply, swiftly moving along the nearest walkway and to the door. He kept his feet steady and did everything he could to walk in the exact middle of the path before him. Last thing he wanted was to fall into the water. Link swore he saw something shifting beneath the surface. A piece of machinery, some horrid creature waiting to feast on him, or just his imagination running wild? He didn't intend to find out…
Link was so distracted that he didn't notice something coming at him from above until Tatl screamed his name. He lunged backwards, nearly falling into the water, as he gripped his sword tightly in his hand. To his shock, the thing that came at him from the ceiling was a Skulltula! How could such a thing survive in this metallic nightmare?!
For a brief moment, Link felt a searing rage build at the startle, especially since he almost slipped into the water. The freakish interior of the Temple had quickly put him on edge. At the very least, he was outside of the monster's range, so all he had to do was ready an arrow and shoot through its head. He still felt sick to his stomach at the wet thunk and the oozing blood from the wound as the Skulltula spasmed in death. Made worse when Link had to shove it aside to keep going since the walkway was so narrow…
It always made Tatl a little uneasy at just how nonchalant Link was about killing. Yeah, it was just a gross spider monster, but still. Even after all this time, she just wasn't used to it, and she doubted that'd ever change. "Hey, uh, I'll keep an eye out for those things from now on." She felt a bit bad for not spotting it earlier, seeing how much it made Link jump. Really, what was a Skulltula doing in a place like this anyway? Just a part of the curse, she supposed…
Link wasn't upset with Tatl at all, he was more mad at himself for not spotting the creature. "Thanks. I'll try to be more observant too." He flatly replied, keeping his gaze straight ahead…but also kept glancing up at the ceiling, just in case. The boy also looked about for other Stray Fairies that might be in the room, but he didn't spot any.
Upon reaching the door, Link opened it up to see an even more unusual sight in the next room. It was much larger than the previous chamber, and a majority of the floor was gone, a very deep pool of water in its place. That wasn't all, there was a massive device, a water wheel, churning the water clockwise for a purpose that Link and Tatl couldn't fathom. Like before, there were walkways, narrow ones, that went only along the wall with a single door on the other side of the room.
"Hey, wait!" Tatl called as Link started to go along the walkway. "I think there's a tunnel in the water there. If Gyorg is a big fish, we should look where there's a lot of water, right?" She knew that meant going back in the bottle, but she wanted his place cleansed quickly.
The churning water looked hazardous, even for a Zora. Of course, he felt a surge of fear as he looked down into the water, the bottom veiled behind a cold blackness. It wasn't even the case that water bothered him normally. Generally, only the ocean truly terrified him. He supposed because all the water in the Temple was somewhat connected to the ocean, and his inability to see the bottom, it just made him feel uneasy…
"You're right. Okay, we'll give it a shot." Was all Link said, knowing he'd have to get back in the water sooner or later to fight Gyorg. He got a bottle ready for Tatl, the fairy holding her breath as she was corked into it. Becoming a Zora, Link didn't hesitate as he leapt into the water, keeping a tight grip on Tatl's bottle as he plunged into the water.
Right away, he felt the giant machine creating a current to go against him. He flipped a few times in the water against his will, surprised at how strong the force was! Even in his Zora form, he struggled against it. Still, he managed to right himself, and swam full speed towards the single hallway in the water…yet, he wasn't able to! As Link got close, a powerful current fought against him, and even though he was trying as best as he could, he was pushed back!
Once more, Link flailed about in the water, needing a moment to correct himself. He looked at Tatl, making sure she was okay after all that. She wasn't looking at him, though, she was looking downward and pointing frantically. Link looked down, his Zora eyes allowing him to see the bottom of the area…and the dozens of orange eyes going right towards him.
Skeletal fish began swarming Link, catching him off guard as his fins sharpened and he started to flail his limbs at the small monsters. He kept the arm holding Tatl's bottle still as not to hurt her, of course. Being skeletal, the fish naturally broke apart as soon as they were hit, but there were so many that some got past Link's limbs and bit into his flesh. Rotting teeth penetrated his flesh, and he quickly torpedoed himself to the surface, destroying the rest of the skeleton fish in the process.
Link leapt out of the water, landing on the walkway as he freed Tatl and took the mask off. The teeth of the fish didn't cause any major injuries, but some of the toothmarks were bleeding, the injuries transferring over to Link's human form. Tatl, meanwhile, was a bit jostled and had a headache after all of that, but was ultimately unharmed. She winced, rubbing at her temples as she turned over to Link. "Hey, are you…" She trailed off, staring at Link as he stood up and leaned against the wall, panting and dripping wet.
She watched him as he collected himself, seeing his injuries weren't too bad. Even the bleeding wasn't severe, the blood flow already halted from the few bitemarks she could see on his arms and legs. Yet there was something else horribly wrong with him. As he stood there, leaning against the metal interior of the accursed Temple, he just looked so…small. No, that was the wrong word. He looked faded. It was as if he was a mere shadow cast upon the wall and at any moment he'd simply recede into nothingness.
Tatl had no idea where this came from, she had never seen him this way before. He had been plenty pitiable before, yes, but never in such a severe way. Even his sole eye looked blank, as if belonging to a doll as it stared ahead while the boy caught his breath. A part of her wondered if he had simply reached some sort of limit. Those fish weren't such a big deal for Link, and she knew that. It was just, on top of everything that had occurred during their journey, on top of him losing his eye and dealing with those horrific Deep Pythons…maybe that tiny event just broke him in some way…
Link's arms and legs ached from the bites, but he knew they were nothing to worry about. Yet he felt exhausted. Drained. The child felt spread thin, more than usual of course. This Temple was practically torture for him, the mechanical features and how unnatural it all was made him sick to his stomach in a way no other Temple had. Yes, the Shadow Temple was far worse for many reasons, but just the sight and sound of the Great Bay Temple made Link want to puke. The only sign of anything natural anywhere was the water, but it just made him think of that horrid ocean.
Even then, in that large room, Link felt suffocated, like the walls were closing in on him! The whirring of machinery, the grinding of gears, the drumming of some far-off device…! Then there were the clangs, every so often, some metallic strike rang out and startled the boy, making him think there was something unseen approaching. Yet even with this fear and anxiety, he felt hollow. A husk that had to move forward, or else an entire land was going to be destroyed.
It was only seconds later that Link realized Tatl had called to him, to check on him, and he turned to see her staring at him. "I'm okay. Just a few bites." He explained, pushing off the wall and collecting the Zora Mask and bottle off the floor. "The water kept pushing me out of the tunnel. I'm sorry if you got hurt."
Of course he'd lie. Even as he moved and spoke, Tatl could barely see him as anything more than a faded being. Of course he'd only care about how she was doing. She really wished he'd be selfish for once. "It's just a headache, I'll live. But okay, guess we can't go that way." Tatl saw as Link turned to her, he became more whole than he was, just a bit. His eye was still so empty, and it tugged at her heart…
"There's still the door over there. That'll be our best bet." Link replied, almost feeling like he had to shout to be heard over the machinery around him. Steeling himself, he got his sword and shield ready as he marched towards the door, keeping close to the wall to avoid falling into the water. Tatl fluttered by his side without comment.
When the two opened the door, they saw a relatively small chamber, a cube of suffocating metal. Along the walls were holes oozing a disgusting green slime down into vents on the floor. There were no other doors, but there was a large device on the floor that looked like it could be turned. At least to Tatl, who was more familiar with technology than Link.
"Hey, try to push on that." The fairy said, pointing out the switch. "Maybe it'll help out somehow." Not much of a choice but to try. As Link walked towards the switch, Tatl's nose wrinkled. "Giants, it reeks in here…what's all that goop anyway…?"
The two of them froze in their tracks at the sound of some sort of slimy sloshing…coming from above. They looked up to see a gelatinous blob stuck on the ceiling, and there was a creature inside! Not just any creature, but it was a Gekko, astonishingly enough. "Another one of those things…?" Link remarked, walking backwards as he waited for some sort of attack.
"I thought they just lived in the swamp! Or…I guess the last one turned into a frog when you defeated it, right?" Tatl tried to recall, but even with the many times Link went to the Temple to try and permanently free the Giant, it seemed like it was years ago to her.
The Gekko was somehow swimming about in the jelly-like substance as if it were water. It spotted the two intruders, and a garbled screech came from its disgusting maw. At that moment, the jelly fell from the ceiling, prompting Link and Tatl to run so as not to get crushed by it. The hefty mass of gunk slammed into the floor, the Gekko still in it, the jelly expanding a bit at the impact before schlorping back into shape.
"Eugh! That's so disgusting!" Tatl exclaimed as the Gekko leered at the two. To her further horror, it started to swim at them, but somehow the jelly around it went along! "How is it controlling all that?!"
Link didn't respond, quickly taking out his bow and firing an arrow at the Gekko, aiming for its head. While the projectile hit the jelly easily, it instantly slowed down and didn't even make it to the monster inside at all! It was too thick! The Gekko cackled at Link, the noise garbled from the jelly, as it kept swimming towards him and Tatl. They had to maneuver around the room to avoid the large globule of whatever that mass truly was.
Arrows didn't work. The fuse of bombs would just go out. The Hookshot probably wouldn't do anything either…! That's when Link realized the obvious. If that Gekko could swim around in the jelly, surely a Zora could too! Without hesitation, he whipped out the mask once again and shoved it onto his face. Once transformed, he sprinted at the jelly and dove headfirst into it, confident that it'd work.
Needless to say, it was a revolting substance, not quite liquid, but not quite a solid either. No matter what it was, Link was able to swim in it, and much faster than the Gekko. The monster let out a startled cry as the false Zora launched towards it, Link slamming his head into the creature's gut and knocking it out of the jelly, following it quickly.
As the Gekko recovered from the blow, Link tore off the mask and drew his sword and shield, feeling more comfortable fighting as himself. Tatl, meanwhile, was watching things unfold to the now-still jelly mass. Before, Link had seemed like a faded being, little more than shadow on the wall. Yet as she watched him fight against the Gekko, he seemed to change before her eyes. As she watched, it was as if Link became more solid, almost seeming to even grow a few inches before her very eyes. He looked like someone that could take on the world and actually have a fighting chance, a far cry from the withered husk he was mere minutes ago.
Link wasn't thinking of how he looked, or very much at all. He was just focusing on getting out of this in one piece! The Gekko wasn't any more dangerous than the one from Woodfall Temple, though it managed to get a scratch on his right cheek and his left arm. Enough for him to bleed, even. Yet he gave a stab or a slash in return each time, the Gekko's wounds far more severe, revolting blue blood oozing from its body.
The Gekko let out a craved yell, swiftly getting behind Link and leaping on his back. It stared to smack and bite upon his head, Link crying out in pain as he quickly thought of a plan. He turned his back to the nearest wall and ran backwards at it, slamming the Gekko into it. Yet, it kept its grip on him, continuing to bite and scratch whatever it could get its claws and nasty teeth on. Link kept the effort up, however, slamming the monster into the wall another three times, going rougher with each bash, until it finally let go. Without hesitation, he spun around and slashed right at the monster's throat, cutting it deeply as blue blood flooded from the wound.
Gargling harshly, the Gekko tried to make its way back to the jelly before it collapsed onto the floor. Just like in the Woodfall Temple, however, the Gekko began to change. It shrank and shrank, and it quickly became a small, ordinary frog colored red. Like with the other Gekko Link fought, this one didn't seem injured at all despite the death of its old form. The frog almost seemed happy, hopping in place and letting out a ribbit. As this happened, the jelly blob began to dissolve and melt away, oozing down into the floor vents and out of sight.
Tatl hovered over, looking at Link's injuries and wincing a bit. Some were still seeping blood, but not to the point his life was in danger. They really should have gotten a Red Potion before coming here. If only they didn't have to rescue that witch just to get some. Such a long diversion for something like that, but it was worth it. If Link got too injured in this Temple, there was nothing they could really do. At the very least, she noticed he still looked more solid than in the other room, it was as if she had seen some weakened side to him, he tried to keep locked away. Not an emotional weakness, but a physical one, like he was only as strong as the situation called for…
She shook the thought away, knowing she'd ponder it later on. "Looks like the frog is happy to see us." Tatl remarked, the amphibian ribbiting again as if in agreement. She suddenly realized something. "Hey, remember that mask you got from that Goron? The, uh…Don Gero Mask, yeah! You think you could talk to frogs with that thing?" The fairy recalled hearing some story about Don Gero being a large frog god that spoke to and commanded regular frogs. What if the mask had some sort of power related to it?
Link had nearly forgotten he even had that mask; he hadn't actually worn it a single time. The only reason he bothered to keep was because it was a gift. Wincing a bit from his sore limbs and head, he reached into his bag to get the mask. The Gekko really scratched and bit at him a lot, but the wounds were thankfully shallow, and the Great Fairy's blessing even made his hat and his head under it protected, so a lot of the Gekko's bites didn't actually wound him.
The boy took the mask out, seeing it as more of a hat, which meant he had to take his usual one off. It was a pain to put on, and the little hands on the mask covered his eyes, making him unable to see. Being unable to see with the murky darkness around him was unnerving, but he knew Tatl would watch for any potential dangers. He felt ridiculous, and given Tatl's snickering, he looked the part.
To Link's shock, the frog let out a loud ribbit, and then a small, croaky voice emerged. "Oh! Don Gero, it's you!" It had to be the frog speaking, Tatl had been right! "Tell me, has Spring returned to the mountains! It's been some time since that cursed was laid upon me…I think…"
Link wasn't sure what to do. Did he just talk back? Would the frog understand him? It seemed to think that he was Don Gero, all because of the mask. He knew it wasn't a transformation mask, he didn't feel any different. Maybe they were just easier to trick because they were animals…? "No, not yet." The boy responded, feeling stupid for talking to a frog he couldn't even see. "It's still Winter there."
The frog made a noise that sounded like a mix between a ribbit and a grunt. "I see. I will go ahead and wait near the mountains, awaiting the melting snow. Farewell, Don Gero, the rest of the Frog Choir and I will await Spring and your return!" What followed was the sound of wet plaps, the frog hopping along the floor.
Risking breaking the illusion, Link lifted the frog hand covering his remaining eye to see the frog hopping towards the vents in the floor. Before he could advise against it, the amphibian dove into one and was out of sight.
"Uh…wow…I don't know if going down there was the best idea…" Tatl murmured as Link took the mask off. It had been a real treat to see the boy putting on something so silly, she couldn't help but snicker earlier. "You sure make that mask work, Link." She teased, tittering a bit as the boy put the object back in his bag. "What did it even say to you?"
"It wanted to know if Spring had returned to the mountains. I told it no, but it went on ahead anyway." Curiosity eating him, Link just had to ask. "Did I talk normally to the frog? Did I speak normal words to you?"
Tatl giggled again. "Oh, no, you croaked. It sounded really weird, you know."
The way Tatl replied…Link had no idea if she was just pulling his leg or not. He decided he'd really rather now know what the mask fully did to him. "Right then." Without further hesitation, he went to the large switch in the room. With the Gekko and the frog, he had nearly forgotten it. Despite its size, Link's strength was beyond a boy his age, as he pushed forward, he was able to slowly push the large device around. After a few moments, there was a loud click and the switch wouldn't move any further. On top of that, a loud humming and then the roar of some unseen device filled the room for a second before going quiet.
Looking around, the boy and fairy saw nothing had changed. No passage opened up to go further, the goop was still oozing from the walls. Nothing indicated pushing that switch helped them in any way. "Mmm…Uh…" Tatl was grasping for an answer as Link kept looking around for some sort of answer. "Let's go back to the other room. Maybe something there changed…"
He hoped so. There weren't really any other options, that current was too strong even as a Zora for him to get past. Unless there was another underwater tunnel back in the room with the Skulltula. At that moment, Link noticed four more Stray Fairies hovering in the corner by the ceiling. With the Great Fairy's Mask, he collected them. After this, the two went back to the previous room, Link's wounds starting to cease their bleeding by this point.
As the two entered the massive chamber, they indeed saw there was a difference. The large device that spun the water was going counterclockwise. "It's spinning the other way! You should be able to go through the tunnel now. Let's give it a shot!" Tatl exclaimed, starting to feel the need to be the moral support. Normally she just let Link go through things on his own, but after seeing him like that…she felt like he needed more pushes. This really wasn't her thing, but she'd try…
Link noticed it too, Tatl was more upbeat and trying to help more than she normally would. It reminded him of Navi. She'd always be right there for him to help lift him up when he was down. Goddesses, he needed her right now! If she were with him, she'd know how to make him feel better. As soon as he had that thought, he felt guilty, knowing Tatl was doing her best. That wasn't fair to her...! Still, he missed Navi more every day, he felt empty without her, and he had lost any hope she was somewhere in Termina long ago. They hadn't gone East yet, but he doubted she'd be over there. If she were in Termina, she'd probably be in the swamps or with humans…
Shaking the thought away, he got the bottle ready as he became a Zora once more, Tatl entering the container as it was corked back up. Link leapt into the water, bracing himself for the rough waters this time, entering it with a bit more grace than last time. Still, the currents were strong and it took him a moment to gather himself. At the very least, there were no more skeleton fish to attack him. This time, when he swam to the corridor, he found he was not only able to swim through it, but he was propelled forward, the tide going fully in the other direction.
The pair found themselves in another large metal chamber, a large water wheel spinning from a water geyser spewing from a large green device coming up from the floor. Like usual, there were walkways to go along, Link getting up on one as he freed Tatl from the bottle and returned to normal. The sound of mechanical movement was still aggravating the boy, having to resist covering up his ears entirely. "Looks like it really worked." He observed as he put the bottle and mask away. "I still don't know what any of these things do." It all seemed like pointless busywork to him. Link couldn't even fathom what such a large structure could possibly do with all the moving machinery inside of it. At least with the Clock Tower it was very clear what the wooden mechanisms did…
"Your guess is as good as mind." Tatl admitted with a shrug. She watched Link stare at the moving parts as if it were some sort of monster. A part of her wondered just how advanced things were in Hyrule. She never left the Lost Woods there, so she had no clue. A lot of this might be downright alien to the kid. "Never seen anything like this, have you?"
"No. There's nothing like this where I'm from." Link admitted, disgusted with the environment around him. Even being inside of Lord Jabu-Jabu was preferrable to this. Even if the minor deity was larger on the inside than the outside, things still made more sense there. Turning away from the machinery, the two made their way towards the door along the walkway.
What followed was a series of messing about with the machinery of the Great Bay Temple. For one reason or another, they found their way impeded because of water flow or a lack of a wheel turning. They had to enter other chambers, working large switches to progress through more underwater tunnels, or get a water wheel moving so a barred door would become unlocked for them.
The further into the Temple the two went, the more complicated the machinery became. Entire rooms seemed to be large devices in and of themselves. Countless whirling gears, shifting pistons, and gushing water spouts serving some unknown purpose. Link couldn't help it, just seeing the perverse machinery made him want to puke. He'd rather tear down the affronts to nature than look at them for even another second. The child felt increasingly fidgety and tense the longer he heard the screeching metal and grinding of some unseen machinery within the walls of the metal Hell he was stuck in. At the very least, not much danger met the pair. Some Octoroks stuck their heads from the water to spit rocks at the two, but they weren't too much of a hassle, and some Skulltulas hung from the ceiling that served as a brief startle. Aside from that, things weren't so bad combat-wise. Along the way, more Stray Fairies were collected, one or two being in some of the various rooms.
After what felt like hours, the two found themselves in another chamber with twelve Stray Fairies collected. As for the new room they entered, there was thankfully no machinery to be seen. Just a large, square room with a door on the other side leading further in. Yet the pair didn't move from the entrance. They were hit with the overwhelming sensation of being watched which they just couldn't shake. However, when they looked around the area, they didn't see anything. There was nowhere for any monsters to hide, no crevices or objects for anything to be behind.
That sensation just wouldn't go away, though.
Just as Link was about to walk forward, something dropped from the ceiling on the far side of the room. It was a fleshy partially translucent pink blob! Whatever the thing was, it seemed to be alive, as it started to bounce about the area where it felt, not seeming to do so with any real pattern or purpose. At the very least, it didn't seem like it was hostile in any way. This caused Link and Tatl to look up, startled at what they saw.
Attached to the ceiling was a gigantic eye! It truly was massive, about as big as Goht was! Yet, the eyeball seemed to be all there was. The thing stared down at Link and Tatl, surrounded by dozens of pink blobs like the one that fell from the ceiling. Upon being spotted, the giant eye widened even further, as if becoming aggressive. This was proven true as it fell from the ceiling, turning out to be part of some sort of green, scaley creature that was little more than a limbless ball with only the eye as anything resembling a face.
At the same time, the rest of the pink globs fell around the creature before swarming it. The strange blobs covered up the monster entirely, yet it still stared at Link and Tatl through its cover. It then began to slowly approach, every inch of it covered in the organic shield. One thing the two noticed was three of the globs had Stray Fairies trapped in them!
"I…have no idea what that thing is! You've gotta get rid of those pink things though!" Tatl yelled, disgusted at the unusual monster. "Shoot them! Hurry! Watch out for the Stray Fairies, though!"
That's what Link thought to do at first. However, he only had so many arrows, not nearly enough to get rid of all the blobs. He was afraid to get close to the giant eye monster, having no clue what it was capable of or what it might do if it closed the gap. That's when he remembered the Hookshot! With his sword in one hand and the tool in the other, he aimed the device at one of the blobs.
Backing away to give himself some distance from the beast, Link fired the Hookshot at one of the globs. As he had hoped, it attached itself cleanly to the pink flesh and pulled the entire thing off of the eyeball monster! As it got close, Link slashed it with his sword, the pink blob practically popping and seeming to just dissolve away as it broke apart.
With a plan, Link kept repeating this process. For whatever reason, the eyeball monster didn't seem too worried, slowly trying to get to Link, but the boy was able to comfortably strafe around the unusual creature. He kept using the Hookshot to grab the pink blobs off the main monster, destroying them as they were brought in close. As he did this, though, the pink orbs kept covering up the main monster's eye, the creature somehow controlling all the blobs somehow.
Yet there were only so many, and before too long, there was no more cover for the giant eye! During this ordeal, Link rescued the three Stray Fairies, freed without harm as Link destroyed their pink prisons. It seemed they understood he was trustworthy and entered his bag on their own. He assumed, like with the other Temples, fifteen meant he had them all.
Link still felt hesitant to let the thing get close to him. It stared at him without emotion, still only approaching him slowly, which was really unnerving to the child. While his arrows were still limited, he didn't feel comfortable getting near the beast in order to use his sword. Getting his bow out, he readied an arrow and aimed at the monster. If it had any idea what Link was trying to do, it didn't show it. Even as Link fired, the beast let the projectile fly towards it.
The arrow hit the monster right in the iris and to Link and Tatl's shock, the thing somehow managed to roar despite having no visible mouth. At this point, it clearly got more serious. No longer did it meander around the room, it instead charged right at Link, moving so fast the boy had to dive out of the way just to avoid getting crushed. The monster went right past Link, going in a straight line, until it slammed into the wall in front of it.
Wasting no time, the monster turned right around and its eye locked right onto Link and it charged him a second time, going just as fast as before. The boy had enough time to get up and sprint to the side, Tatl right at his side, as the creature went past. Once more, it didn't stop until it slammed into the wall. Link began to realize it was a stupid creature that had gone mad with rage. He readied another arrow and when the monster turned around, he let it fly into its massive eye. Naturally, he hit his target easily, right near where the first arrow struck. This got another roar from the creature as it veered off course, probably from the pain, and slammed into a wall once more.
This process repeated several times, the eyeball monster making a direct beeline towards Link at intense speeds. If he was able to move fast enough, he'd fire an arrow at the monster, otherwise he'd dodge out of the way. Even with the Great Fairy's boon upon his clothes, he was sure if he was run over by the creature, it'd most likely kill him or otherwise make him unable to move and would die soon afterwards. He managed to fire an additional six arrows in the beast's eyeball, blue blood oozing out of the various wounds. The more arrows he put into the thing, the slower it began to move.
After another few arrows, the beast was moving slowly enough that it wasn't much of a threat anymore. Yet it still charged at Link, who charged right back. In a gamble, he leapt up into the air, sword at the ready! As the two met, Link plunged his blade into the creature's eyeball, letting himself fall, keeping the blade inside the eye so it'd cause a huge gash through the orb. Despite this, the monster kept charging straight ahead, forcing Link to let go of his blade so he didn't get crushed against the beast and the wall.
As usual, the monster slammed into the wall at full force, driving the sword deeper into its eye. When it turned around, though, it did so sluggishly. Rather than a roar, the eyeball creature let out a weak rumble before falling still, dying right on the spot as blue blood oozed from numerous different wounds. Link was glad that was the finishing blow, he really had no idea how he was going to get his sword back without the monster dying first.
Thankfully, the blade had been brought down enough from the slash so Link could pull it out with ease. When he did so, though, a small torrent of the vile blue blood spurted out, getting all over the front of his tunic. Granted, most of his body had blue stains at this point just from the jump and slash earlier. Still, it made him feel sick to his stomach. Didn't matter if it was red or green or some other color, all the blood was revolting to him.
"Man, what the heck was that thing…?!" Tatl pondered, staring at the bulbous corpse left behind. "Never heard of a monster that was just an eye before." She heard of some unusual beings, especially to the East, but nothing like what Link just killed.
"Me neither." Link admitted, trying to wipe some of the blood off his sword using the back of his tunic with mild success. "Let's hurry, in case it's not actually dead." Maybe it was his imagination, but it felt like the giant eyeball was still aware of him in some way…
As the two approached the door forward, they suddenly felt the air around them grow heavier and thicker with a malicious intent. They knew right away what this meant, the monster responsible for the cursed energy, Gyorg, was very close. On the other side of that door, maybe.
"You feel that too, huh?" Tatl asked, seeing Link shiver slightly. "Be careful opening the door, that dark energy is so strong, that fish monster has to be on the other side…"
Link slowly approached the door and opened it, surprised at what he saw. The next room was rather small, not even half as large as the one he was still in. There was no machinery or anything of the sort, just a hole in the middle with a ladder leading downwards. He and Tatl entered the room and gazed down below, and in doing so, Link felt his heart skip a bit.
A massive orange eye stared back up at him from a dozen feet down in the hole. It was unblinking and with a dark green iris. The orb seemed to stare right through him, and the boy felt a hot, sandy wind beating at his bare skin as he heard a distant howling. However, he was pulled from the sensation as Tatl spoke up beside him.
"Man, look how far down that goes! Just how big is this place?! Gotta be careful going down…" The fairy mused, not seeming to care about the giant eye.
Link blinked, and the moment he opened his eye again, the orange intrusion was gone. He no longer felt the hot wind or the sand scraping against his flesh. The pit was empty, leading down into the darkness. That eye shook him deeply, but it was clear it wasn't real, his mind was just tricking him.
Trying to ignore what just happened, Link nodded at Tatl. "I will be. Will you light the way for me?" He didn't want to be groping at ladder rungs in the dark. The tunnel wasn't properly lit and went entirely dark not far down.
Tatl agreed and floated downward as Link started his descent. He took his time, not wanting to slip and fall as he felt the hole was a lot deeper than he'd expected. Indeed, this was the case. Several minutes went by as the two made their way down, even at the pace they were going, it was still unnerving. They weren't able to see the entire Temple from outside, but surely it couldn't truly go down this much? It already seemed far larger on the inside than the outside as it was. Link never stopped being nervous over how these curses warped the interiors of structures…
Eventually, though, the two saw a faint light from below. The bottom of the shaft was near! After about another minute, the two reached the bottom, seeing a large room below them. There was water all over, too deep and dark to see how deep it was. Unfortunately, the only place to walk was a platform in the middle of the room that went down to the floor under the water, and the shaft's ladder didn't even reach it. Link surmised it was a fall he could handle, but it'd still be a painful landing.
The smell of rot and the overwhelming pressure on the two told them this was where Gyorg presided, somewhere in the water, invisible to them from their position. The water was deathly still, not a single ripple or bubble to give away the monstrous fish's location. Still, Link knew he couldn't just stay on the ladder all day. Bracing himself, he dropped to the platform, landing gracefully, but the height from where he fell still made it painful, jolts of pain going through his limbs and across his entire body.
Tatl floated down with him, looking around at the eerily still water. "That fish is in there somewhere…I swear I can feel it watching us…" There was no way she was going to go looking for it either, having a nasty feeling it'd try to eat her.
Link felt it too, a pair of eyes watching his every movement. As he stood up properly, he started to look around as well, but saw nothing to indicate where Gyorg was. He could turn into a Zora and search, but he was scared to do so. Even if it wasn't the ocean itself, the water in this Temple felt like it was the ocean to Link, as if he were truly in its depths, and the water in this room was no exception. For another minute, all things were quiet. Then, without warning, a loud splash rang out from behind Link and Talt. Turning around, they saw a large shape swimming at them, partially concealed by the water. They barely had time to react before it reached the platform and leapt into the air!
Out of the water came a massive fish, a pointed and sharp monstrosity that went far above the two as it leapt into the air. They only got a brief look at it, but saw it had gigantic teeth, two horns on its face, and scales that looked like they could cut a man apart. It had piercing green eyes full of hunger and hate. Not nearly as large as the Deep Pythons of course, but it seemed far more dangerous despite this.
As quickly as it made itself known, it crossed the platform and landed back in the water. Its fin cut through the surface as it skulked about the area, now able to be tracked with ease. "What the heck?! I didn't think it'd be able to jump like that!" Tatl exclaimed, watching as the monster, assuredly Gyorg, swam about. "I think it's waiting for you to enter the water. Not like we have anywhere else to go…"
Obviously Link had no intention of doing that…but it wasn't like he had many options. He only had a few arrows left, and he doubted it'd be enough to finish Gyorg off. Really, he wasn't even sure if his arrows could penetrate its scales, they looked so sturdy! On top of that, if Gyorg leapt out of the water again, he wasn't sure his sword could damage it either, its skin almost looked as hard as the metal that surrounded them all.
The only thing he could think of was to become a Zora and go after the creature. With his sharpened fins he could at least gouge out Gyorg's eyes. Maybe his fins could pierce its scales too…but he dreaded the idea of going in the water with that thing. One bit from those teeth was enough to cripple him, or just flat out kill the boy.
As he pondered his course of action, apparently Gyorg grew impatient. Without warning, it charged at the platform, ramming into it with such force that Link was nearly thrown off his feet. He staggered so badly that he neared the platform's edge, seeing Gyorg back away and leer at him with impatience and a desire to devour him. As he regained his footing, he whipped out his bow and fired an arrow right at Gyorg! The projectile hit its back, and it seemed to penetrate its scales…but not enough to do any major damage. He wasn't even sure if it drew blood!
This caused Gyorg to start swimming about more erratically, at least somewhat damaged from the arrow. Link decided he might as well use the rest. He doubted Gyorg would leap up at him again, so he had only a slim chance of hitting anywhere vital. Still, as he readied another arrow, he aimed for the monster's eye. The boy didn't dare get too close to the platform's edge in case Gyorg rammed it again and knocked him into the water. He let the arrow fly, but Gyorg swiftly dodged it. One by one, he fired the four remaining arrows he had. Another missed, but the other three hit the demonic fish. Unfortunately, none hit its eyes or anywhere else vital, only getting into its side. As far as Link could see, none of these wounds drew blood, but he supposed some damage was better than none at all.
Once more, Gyorg swam rapidly towards the platform, Link moving to the center as the fish struck it. He was unbalanced from the blow, but not enough to fall off the edge. The boy knew he couldn't put it off any longer, he had to enter the water and fight Gyorg directly! Taking out the Zora Mask, he looked over to Tatl. "Stay here." He gently ordered, knowing Tatl wouldn't go with him anyway, but he felt the need to say it. Without waiting for a response, he put the mask on and took on Mikau's form yet again as he dove into the water.
"Link?! Hey! That's too dangerous!" Tatl called, but by the time she spoke up, the false Zora was under the water already. She indeed had no plan to hover above the underwater battle or anything, but she wished she could do something but float about and worry!
As soon as he struck the water, Link's fins sharpened as his instincts detected the danger around him. If Gyorg was surprised at the sudden Zora out of nowhere, it sure didn't show it. The monstrous fish was clearly visible due to Link's changed eye, the pointed being dashing right for him! Moving swiftly, Link dodged the charge, barely doing so purposefully so he could drag the sharp edge of this fin across Gyorg's body. At the very least, it did more than the arrows, but not by much. Those scales were so much harder than they seemed! Still, the slice was deep enough to actually draw a bit of blood, Link being surprised to see it was red instead of some creepy and unnatural color.
Gyorg lashed out violently from the blow, quickly turning around and ramming right towards Link. It kept its mouth shut, aiming to skewer him with those disastrous horns it had. The false Zora was too close to Gyorg to dodge, so he reached out and grabbed onto one of the horns, planting his feet on the fish's face so he could hold his body away from the horns' points. Gyorg kept charging though, picking up speed if anything else.
Link quickly realized it was heading for a wall, wanting to skewer him with its horns! Like with the eyeball monster, he waited as the creature was nearing the wall. At the last second, he dodged off to the side, allowing Gyorg to slam into the metal barrier at full speed! There was a distinct cracking sound and as the monstrous fish pulled away from the wall, Link saw the smaller of the two horns had snapped off entirely! The larger one was in pretty bad shape, a bit of the top portion having been severely cracked from the impact.
This seemed to further enrage Gyorg as it once more swam right at Link, who prepared to repeat the process again. However, the demonic fish changed tactics at the last moment. Just before it reached Link, it turned in place and slapped the false Zora with its large tailfin. The impact was strong enough to send the boy careening backwards, spinning in the water as he tried to reorient himself. While he managed to do so quickly, it wasn't fast enough. Gyorg was on him in a second, brandishing its remaining horn at him. Link managed to dodge to the side, but because of the shortened gap, it wasn't enough. The horn slashed Link across the right arm, blood leaking from the wound and causing the boy to cry out in a garbled, pained yell.
As if spurred by the blood, Gyorg roared and quickly went for Link again, maw opened and showing off its countless teeth. Link torpedoed away, the massive fish giving chase. He kept swimming from Gyorg, but naturally it pursued him obsessively. Around and around the platform they went, Link surmising it wouldn't fall for the wall trick again. After all, it stopped itself from being latched onto, the monster was smarter than it seemed! He felt the only thing he could do was slash away at it like with the Deep Python, but he wasn't sure what the best time to turn around and strike.
Gyorg started to gain speed, even diving down further to get to Link from below. After a few moments, it charged at him from this angle, forcing Link to leap out of the water and into the air. With a massive splash, Gyorg followed! The child heard Tatl shout something, but he ignored her as he turned in midair, the monstrous fish's jaws wide open for him! Thinking fast, he reached out his legs and kicked off of Gyorg's face, propelling him away from the beast. As the two landed back in the water, he made the first move this time, rushing Gyorg and stabbing it in the eye with his sharpened fin!
Naturally, the demonic fish writhed against the assault, prompting Link to dig his fin into the eye socket even deeper! He moved his fin around, shredding and destroying the eyeball, making sure that it was entirely blinded! Link was going to try to push the fin in even more, maybe piercing the thing's brain, when Gyorg slammed its body against him. Razor sharp scales slammed against Link, slicing into his torso and forcing him away from the creature.
The demonic fish continued to writhe about as blood drained from its socket, its eyeball little more than scraps floating in the water. Rather than going right after Link, Gyorg did something unusual. It started to flinch and twitch in an odd way, as though it were trying to throw up. Link kept his distance, not sure what the monster was capable of. To his horror, it did throw up…in a way. Rather than just a cloud of sick, Gyorg spewed out dozens of miniature versions of itself! They were practically carbon copies of Gyorg, just smaller.
Right away, the Mini Gyorgs made a beeline for Link, gnashing their teeth as they sped towards him. Acting fast, he started to slash his fins at the group of little monsters, but there was just too many! While he managed to cut a few apart, it wasn't enough. A number of them slipped through his attack and latched onto him, digging their teeth into his limbs and torso, at least half a dozen of the things biting into his scaley flesh!
Pain seared through his entire body as the water around him became red with his own blood. He screamed into the water, bubbles spewing from his mouth as more of the smaller monsters rushed him. Bringing forth as much strength as he could, he stabbed and slashed at the incoming Mini Gyorgs, killing the ones still trying to get a bite out of him. He then worked on the remainders, their razor sharp teeth cutting and piercing his body! It was hard to reach some of them, having to dig his thumbs into their eyes to force them to let go of him before he'd finish them off. He then went for the ones he could reach with his fins, cutting them apart and freeing himself entirely.
Yet the moment this happened, Gyorg struck once more. Link had been so distracted with its spawn that he nearly forgot about the larger and more dangerous fish! It approached him, swimming on its side with its mouth wide open. He didn't have time to dodge or strike back, only able to scream out as the massive teeth clench around his torso. Gyorg kept swimming, digging into Link's skin as more red stained the water, the boy feeling his vision starting to fade from the blood loss.
His strength was waning by the second, and Link knew if he didn't do something soon, he'd die. Not just him…everyone would die! Gyorg refused to let go, however, shaking Link back and forth while keep him locked between its teeth. He wasn't sure what to do! He couldn't reach Gyorg's eyes from the angle he was in, and the scales were too hard to penetrate! Link's wounds keep leaking red clouds as Gyorg worked him over, seeming to want to make his death slow and painful…
However, Link realized something! Gills! Fish have gills! He never tried to think of fish much, he found them disgusting…but he remembered Zelda mentioning that's how they breathed, and if he recalled, they were right near the mouth! With his strength fading fast, Link stabbed Gyorg right by its mouth, hitting it right in the gills! Unlike the rest of its body, this part of the demonic fish was vulnerable Link's fins!
Gyorg began to writhe once more, not able to properly breath as Link began to slash his fin around the insides of the beast's large gills. Now red clouds were beginning to form out of Gyorg, its grip on the false Zora starting to loosen as it became weaker. Link didn't let up, though, not until he was freed entirely. With the last of his fighting strength, he circled around Gyorg and drove his fin into its other set of gills! He wasn't able to rip this set apart as much as the first, but it was enough to ensure Gyorg was no longer able to breathe at all!
With that done, he desperately swam towards the platform. Gyorg began to write and roar out into the water. Just as desperately as the false Zora, it began to swim towards the platform, seeming determined to eat him! Alas, even in his weakened state, Link got there first! He breached the water, landing harshly onto the platform, causing Tatl to cry out. A moment after, the demonic fish broke the surface as well, flopping its massive body onto the platform, but was only able to get about half of it on there. Still, it jerked about in place, its massive maw snapping opened and closed as it tried to reach Link, who was just out of its reach!
Tatl cried out again at the fish's appearance, but was more terrified about Link's condition. His body was covered in bites and scratches, blood continuing to drain from his body as he weakly crawled away from Gyorg. "Link?! Giants, what happened?! Quick! Get away! Further away!" The fairy yelled out, having no idea what to do or how to help. Why didn't they think to get a Red Potion first?!
Link barely even heard Tatl, turning onto his back as he stared at the dying Gyorg. It was a matter of perseverance at this point. He was losing blood quickly, and Gyorg was suffocating. The winner of the battle was whoever let their wounds kill them first! He took off his mask, returning to his Hylian form and holding onto the object as he stared Gyorg down, the one-eyed fighters starting to go still. Meanwhile, Tatl was watching the two, not knowing what to do with herself. She felt like she couldn't say or do anything of use, and it made her feel sick just having to watch!
As time slowly passed, Gyorg's movements became sluggish and weak. It didn't even seem to be trying to kill Link anymore, just focusing on trying not to die, yet seeming too drained to even go back in the water anymore. After a few more moments, the beast went still. Like with many monsters that held the curses of Temples, Gyorg began to decompose at a rapid rate, as if an army of invisible bugs was eating it.
Every part of it was vanishing save for its face. As the rest of the body went away, the face shrunk and repaired itself, soon clattering to the floor with a wooden clunk. It was a mask? It certainly seemed to be flesh when Link dealt with it, but he didn't question the logic. As Gyorg vanished entirely, the mask was sitting there, waiting for him to take it.
"Come on, hurry! Just touch the mask and you'll be healed!" Tatl couldn't help but shout out. Assuredly it'd work the same way as the last two Temples!
Link didn't respond, using all his strength to crawl towards the mask. His vision was starting to fade at this point, surrounded by his own blood as he crawled for the only remnant of that horrid, demonic fish. Just as he felt his energy run out, he clasped his free hand around the mask.
As with the other Temples, as soon as he did this, he and Tatl were whisked away in a flash of light.
Immediately, Link felt his strength return to him.
Once more, he and Tatl found themselves in that dreamlike world on top of a massive pillar. Link's wounds were healed, and he felt his energy returning to him, the Zora Mask still in his grasp which he absentmindedly put in his mask. He quickly noticed his eye was still missing. Perhaps it was beyond the power of even the Giants to return it. Or, maybe, the Giant was angry at Link for not freeing him and his three companions and refused to fix him out of spite. A petty thought, but Link couldn't help but think of it was an explanation…
The liquid around the two was a deep, rich blue as it poured from an unseen source high above. Far, far away, there was a massive figure partially shrouded by fog. It was a bit clearer, two mighty legs fully visible with pink flesh. Yet the top half was still mostly obscured.
Link had to wonder if it was even worth asking about a way to keep the Giant freed. Yet, he found himself talking. Quietly, but he felt like that Giant was still able to hear him. "Is there anything I can do? Is there any way I can keep you free?" His voice lacked any energy, though he was healed, he felt so empty and weak. Hollow.
As the Giants did before, this one didn't so much speak as sing directly into the minds of Link and Tatl. Just three simple words were burrowed gently into their brains.
Help our friend.
Tatl piped up, flying high and shouting as loud as her small lungs could handle. "Yes! The fourth Giant! We know! There's just not enough time! Link only has three days! He's only a child! Help us keep you free!" She was so desperate to help, just wanting to do anything she could to make Link's quest easier. The fairy remembered what happened the last time they met a Giant, but she felt she had to try.
Alas, the Giant gave no response and the two were sent back to Termina once more in a flash of brilliant light.
A/N: Three Temples down, one to go. I didn't really notice how gory the fight with Gyorg was really getting until it was nearly over. Easily the bloodiest part of the story so far. I felt like Link would be highly disturbed by such an unnatural and alien location such as the Great Bay Temple, a maze of machinery and moving metal. If there was any Temple in the series that'd have switches and puzzles to solve, it'd be this one, though I didn't want to bog the chapter down with writing out too many of them. As for what happens next, there'll be some thing to do before Link and Tatl head off to the East, but I don't think it'll be as long as the whole "missing eye" arc but we'll have to see.