"Link? You look distracted. What's wrong?" Impa asked.
"I had a vision. I saw a Zonai and a Hylian woman, and then Zelda." Link said, still shaken.
"Hmm… The geoglyphs, the literature, the Dragon's Tears… and now a vision of our lost princess… These things must be connected. Let's continue examining the geoglyphs. They may contain further information on Princess Zelda. You know, according to the books, there is something to do with the geoglyphs in the Forgotten Temple. I think we should make our way there soon." Impa said, though she looked a bit worried. Perhaps she sensed something that Link didn't. Regardless, Link nodded, and ran for Epona. Impa walked back to Cado before heading off.
Link suspected the two Shiekah would make it to the Temple before him. Sure enough Link got sidetracked and headed for another Skyview tower, but oddly enough he ran into Hestu who was cowering before a small Blupee. When Link talked to him, all Hestu could talk about was the scary trees. Link didn't see why he would be scared, Hestu was part tree after all. When the trees attacked Link, everything made sense. He defeated them easily and walked back to Hestu.
"HEYA LINK!" Hestu yelled, the large Korok seemed so excited to see Link again. They hadn't spoken with each other for seven years of course. "Thanks for your help~ Sha-Shaka! Why don't I do a little dance and make your pouch bigger, like old times!"
"That would be great Hestu." Link said.
"Oh, but my maracas aren't working again. The forest children stole all of them right back after you brought them all to me. If I had one Korok seed I could help you."
It just so happened that Link had picked up several, so he gave Hestu one. It seemed that Hestu had thought up some new dances that Link quite enjoyed. Once he was done Hestu gave him an update.
"I'm in the middle of traveling! I'm thinking about going east next for relaxing! I just hate the amount of monsters that are about."
"I'll keep that in mind, and I'll kill as many monsters as I can for you." Link said. Hestu brightened.
"I still smell Korok seeds on you."
Hestu did a few more dances before they said goodbye. And Link went on to check out the Bluepee. They usually hung out outside of caves so Link figured there was one nearby. Link thought the cave was normal until he found a Shrine inside. Strangely it was a blessing Shrine. Usually there was a puzzle or danger outside of Shrines like this, but Link would take the easy win. However he still hadn't found the Bubble Frog so he decided to explore a bit more.
But when Link looked down at the bottom of the cave he nearly screamed. Hands made of Gloom with eyes socketed in their palms looked up at him, and Link started to get the queasy feeling he associated with the malice ridden Divine Beasts and Hyrule Castle. His breathing got fast as he tried to think of what to do. He had the high ground and if he could get rid of these things he had to try.
He took out his bow and shot at them, attaching materials to the tips to give them more of a punch. He ended up breaking his Dusk Bow but he didn't care when the last hand crumbled into nothing. He thought he was safe until he felt a presence behind him.
It was the Mummy and Link's brain went into full panic mode.
It was covered in Gloom and holding a wicked black sword. The thing floated towards him unnaturally, and with one swing, Link was barely alive. The large gash ran down his middle and it bubbled and bled profusely. All thought of fighting fled his mind as he took out his Purah Pad and teleported himself back to the New Serene Stable. He collapsed on the teleportation runes and blacked out.
He woke up in bed. When he opened his eyes a man was standing over him. It was Sprinn, the owner of the New Serene Stable. He was safe, that Phantom was gone.
"You gave us quite the scare lad." Sprinn said as soon as he saw Link was awake. "Showed up at that Shrine outta nowhere, bleeding like nothing I've ever seen. I've got you mostly healed up but you're gonna want to stay in bed for a few more days-"
Link shook his head and sat up. How much time had passed? Impa and Cado would be waiting for him at the Forgotten Temple. Where was Epona? Was she still outside that awful cave?
"Whoa lad, you don't wanna be doing that." Sprinn said. The older man tried to push Link back down but Link refused to budge. Link cleared his mind and took out a meal he'd made from Sundelions and scarfed it down. Starting to feel better, Link stood, as Sprinn just watched in mild horror.
"Link, right?" Sprinn asked, and Link nodded, stretching his arms, "You really should get back to bed, I'm no healer, but-"
"I heal fast." Link signed before turning and teleporting back to the Shrine he was at. He immediately ascended through the ceiling. He felt a few twinges in his abdomen as he swung himself onto Epona and rode up to the Skyview tower.
On his way to the Forgotten Temple, Link took on some Constructs and a red boko camp. The Constructs had flame emitters, so Link had a fun time patching up his burns on horseback. He broke a spear but it was worth taking a red Moblin down in one hit. He found a Shrine near where the Serene Stable used to be, and a few little distractions from there to the Temple.
Link found Cado at the entrance to the Forgotten Temple, but Impa was nowhere to be seen.
"Where is Impa?" Link signed to Cado.
"Lady Impa deduced that there is something related to the geoglyphs here. Lady Impa grew impatient with me and the moment I took my eyes off of her, she went deep into the temple by herself. Once I finish mooring the balloon I will go after her." Cado said before going back to his work. Link was worried about the old Shiekah woman. He knew she must have some tricks up her sleeve but last time Link came here, he'd barely made it to the Goddess Statue at the back alive. But he went forward even so.
To his surprise the Temple was mostly quiet. Perhaps Zelda had seen to the removal of all the guardians here. There were some Bokoblin camps that Impa could easily sneak around. Link dispatched them anyway before continuing on. He had to jump some pretty wide gaps and he had to climb a ways before he could see the back of the Temple. Wow, Impa must be hiding impressive skills to get through the temple without a paraglider or Ascend. He finally found Impa standing outside a Shrine of Light before the room with the goddess statue. He completed the Shrine first before going to talk to her.
"Oh Link. There you are! Now, I believe there is something related to the geoglyphs-" She cut off when she noticed his abdominal bandages. "Link. It's been a day since I last saw you." she said disapprovingly.
"I heal fast, don't worry." Link said, as the little Sheikah woman tried to pry down his tunic to get a better look at the bandages.
"I've heard that one before and now I'm off with it!" Impa said sternly. Link sighed but took off his tunic. "Down." Impa commanded, and Link lay down on the ground. Impa carefully removed the bandages and inspected the wound. It was closed but it was a dark angry purple. Almost the color of.
"What kind of Gloom did this to you?" Impa asked, applying some Sheikah salve to the dark skin that glowed faintly like a Sundelion. Link explained what had happened in the cave as she re-bandaged him up.
"Well, next time you get a wound like that, don't keep on going. This Stable manager's healing was incomplete at best. You get hit with anything like that again, and you will go straight to Kakariko village, you hear me?" Impa said sternly. Link nodded and put his tunic back on.
"Now, about the geoglyphs." Impa said like she hadn't just given Link the scariest talking to of his life. "I have been searching for clues, but as you can see these chambers are big and I don't exactly know what I'm looking for. I wonder…" she trailed off and Link made to look into the room with the Goddess Statue. Impa seemed lost in thought so Link thought he would check up with her later. He wandered in the next chamber and was astonished to find that the Goddess Statue had toppled over. That had probably happened during the Upheaval, but even more interesting was the doorway behind the statue. It was circular and had Zonai carvings on the sides and floors of the room. In the middle was a bunch of stone boulders set in a ring around a strange lotus flower looking contraption. In the corner of the room was a smaller boulder with Sundelions growing around it.
In the next room there was a three-dimensional map of Hyrule. With smaller plates depicting different designs. On the wall were those same designs in a specific order. Perhaps the order Link needed to have the visions in? The small plates on the map must be where each geoglyph was.
"Ahh. This place," Link turned to see Impa and Cado standing on the ledge above him.
"Lady Impa, let's head down and study this up close." When they came down the stairs, Impa approached the wall carvings.
"There upon the walls, those are geoglyphs!" She began muttering to herself about the implications of the room while Link and Cado just stared in awe and the three-dimensional map of Hyrule. Soon Impa was rearing to go and Cado was insisting she rest. Link made a short promise to investigate the geoglyphs more before he headed out towards Rito Village.