Legends of the Hero of Time

by Ryan-Sinclair

A lore strict continuation of Ocarina of Time & Majora's Mask. The Hero of Time, Link, is blessed by the Golden Goddesses with a normal existence, free for himself to rule over. He must learn the true meaning of life as he attempts to join hylian society. Protecting and loving his new family, threats emerge as he grows to understand how he must still endure the challenges of fate.

27. Chapter 27

Chapter 27

.

.

.

[Time: 9:12 P.M. (Night)]

[Date: Month 8 'Autumn', Day 03, 8th Era]

(Location: Hyrule, Forbidden Forest, Kokiri Village - Great Deku Tree's Meadow)

.

"Are you ready to talk about it?" The Deku Tree Sprout asked his daughter as the two were the only individuals currently there in the meadow aside from the fairies fluttering about. Night had completely fallen upon the land. Although the sky was clear enough for the luminescent moonlight and unfathomable number of stars to illuminate the realm, the two were only able to see each other thanks to the sprites as well as a few nearby lit torches.

Now that the strenuous battle with the army of undead had finally subsided, the peaceful Kokiri Village had a renewed sense of safety. Thanks to the noble effort of Fado, there had been no fatalities or even casualties. Everyone was safe and the skeleton invaders had been swiftly dealt with. However, instead of returning to their usual normalcy, the happy villagers decided to hold a spur-of-the-moment night festival for their saviors. Saria and Mido were there talking to everybody; Tolenli stayed too so he could be treated to a marvelous feast of fruits, vegetables and stewed mushrooms. The old Sage of Wind had even been given a generous helping of jerked meat usually stored specifically for Link. Nonetheless, his protege was too occupied with important matters to focus on celebrating.

Fado gently rubbed at the newly wrapped bandage on her knee from where she'd been bitten by the multi-skulled stalbombination. Although she was in pain and still ridden with anxiety at the thought of informing her father-figure about her grand adventure into the Lost Woods, she was ready to do so. She wanted to get out everything that had occurred since the morning. "Yeah…"

"What's the matter?" The Deku Tree Sprout picked up on his daughter's hesitant tone.

Briefly closing her eyes, she groaned from the direct question. "I don't want to get into trouble."

The Deku Tree Sprout lifted both of his mossy eyebrows. He was already aware of her actions. In fact, he'd been aware of them since long before she made them. Still, he was surprised to know that she was so concerned with a potential punishment. Considering she was a sage and now that she knew she was, he didn't think she'd worry over such a trivial matter. That difference made him want to know precisely what she was thinking. "What makes you think you're going to get into trouble?"

Fado rolled her eyes. She figured that the Deku Tree Sprout was testing her, but would have answered truthfully regardless. "I disobeyed you and went into the Lost Woods again; this time, even further in."

"Why do you think you did that?" The Deku Tree Sprout asked. "What made you go out there even after I specifically forbade it?"

Her hands balled into fists as her nerves worsened. Even after all she'd been through, no matter how calm she could be during combat, she couldn't bring herself to ever be complacent in disappointing the Guardian of the Forest. Once she relaxed her hands, she slowly exhaled. She knew that the only way to rid herself of the panic from anticipation was to get it done and over with. Having heard the plant-god's inquiry, she took a moment to think of a response in advance of answering with "Because I wanted to challenge myself? Because I'm bored of sitting around doing chores or playing games all day?"

Again, the Deku Tree Sprout questioned what he heard. "Why do you think you feel so bored of being like the other kokiri?"

Fado stared at her father-figure as she contemplated such a concept. The kokiri girl had long since found herself losing interest in the daily affairs of being an average diminutive villager. Doing chores both indoor and out, prattling on about nothing, playing silly games that had no real reward or consequences, letting her every action be guided by judgemental fairies designed to be with her as well as her friends at all times; all of these became a nuisance to her. She gradually began to lament the monotony of waking up just to go back to sleep. Link had been a good distraction as she spent those years feeling she had a purpose. But, now that he was gone, the boredom had resurfaced.

Her newfound desire to make improvised weaponry as well as the changes in her demeanour weren't random; just like the Know-It-All Brothers had said, they were important. These were changes that mentally as well as physically prepared her for the trials and tribulations it would take for her to awaken her latent powers. When she finally went into the depths of the Lost Woods, it was as if an entirely new world had opened up for her. Although it was definitely dangerous and the Great Deku Tree in addition to his successor had a valid reason for telling her to stay away, everything about it allowed her to gain the much needed experience that was required of a sage.

Suddenly, instead of playing silly games, she was trekking into the unknown to explore her surroundings. Instead of doing chores, she was hunting predators to hone her combat skills. A purpose was given to her that made her life feel worthwhile. Taking all this into account, she figured her reason for disobeying her father was because she was being driven by the divine to find enlightenment.

"Because I'm a sage?" Fado stated.

"Do you think I'm going to ground you for being a sage?" The Deku Tree Sprout continued to interrogate.

Fado wasn't precisely sure of how to respond. She figured he'd be mad, but understood his reasoning now that she took time to think about it. For now, the best she could do was give a long drawn out answer as she was skeptical whether or not she'd be correct. "N-Nooo?"

"No." The Deku Tree Sprout put an end to the aggravating anticipation. "I'm not going to punish you for seeking out your purpose." Momentarily looking up at the stars in the night sky in addition to all the fairies circling around, he gathered his thoughts. Crickets and pixie giggles could be heard in the foreground while jovial sounds of the ensuing festival echoed in the background. "One of my main reasons for existence is to keep you and your siblings safe. This realm can be incredibly dangerous, so I make difficult decisions in order to protect all of you from harm. I do my best to prepare for everything ahead of time. Unfortunately, no matter how hard I try, there are always unforeseen consequences."

His gaze returned to the brave kokiri girl as he continued speaking. "The Lost Woods has always been a treacherous place, but I didn't specifically forbid everyone from going there until after the Hyrulean Civil War, when I had no choice other than to create the Curse of the Forbidden Forest in order to repel invaders. It was definitely easier, safer and better to keep your kind secluded to the village and its surrounding meadows. By keeping you here, for the longest time, I could ensure you wouldn't be eaten by a monster or attacked by stalfos. Yet, deep down, I knew it couldn't stay that way. I didn't want it to stay that way either. What I wanted was for the kokiri to be free to explore the woodland like you were made by the goddesses to do."

"That nasty man, the one who killed my predecessor-..." A chilly shiver went down the Deku Tree Sprout's wooden core as he recalled being approached by the malevolent King of the Gerudo. His muddled memory of having a parasite eating away at his insides disturbed him. Thankfully, the sprouting plant-god reduced the slowly building queasiness by focusing on what he was saying. "He set forth a series of events that made me accept that the time had finally come; that I could no longer pretend seclusion was the best option for you and your siblings."

Letting out a small chuckle, instead of feeling sick at the thought of having been killed, he found himself glad Fado had done what she had. "You may have defied me, but you also proved to me that you're far more capable of taking care of yourself than I ever would have guessed. You showed me that just because the kokiri are child-like, it doesn't mean they can't do things on their own."

"Really?" Fado was utterly surprised at what she was hearing.

"Definitely…" The Deku Tree Sprout confirmed. "You just took down an army of undead soldiers. I'd say you went above and beyond any expectations I ever had."

Fado looked down at her boots as a half-smile surfaced on her lips. "I did all of that to protect my family."

"Oh, I know-..." The Deku Tree Sprout complimented. "It was astounding, absolutely marvelous. There's never been a kokiri with such strength and agility." He smiled too upon seeing her proud grin. "However, that just fortifies my conclusion that you and the others are capable of surviving on your own."

The blonde-haired girl was not only happy, but also relieved she wouldn't be punished. She just wanted to clarify what she'd been told. "You're saying that I'm not going to get into trouble for going out into the Lost Woods, because I'm a sage and I proved to you that I can take care of myself?"

"More-or-less." The Deku Tree Sprout said in advance of smirking with a short laugh. "That, and the fact that I had long ago foreseen you would one day awaken to true potential."

Fado rolled her eyes as her mouth fell ajar. A smirk of her own was the only indication that she wasn't upset. If anything, she wanted to keep pressing until she knew the full story. "You really did know I was going to do this before I ever did? You knew this would happen all along?" Taking a moment to process the information, she blinked in confusion until she added up the clues. "Saria told me you sent her to find me. I was out in the middle of nowhere, so it only made sense that you knew this would happen."

"It's true. But, it's not quite as simple as you think." He replied. "I was also able to track your whereabouts myself, even though it got harder to do the further away you got." The Deku Tree Sprout filled her in on the details as a gentle breeze floated across the peaceful meadow. "My ability to 'see into the future' was granted to me by the divines, yet it isn't the same as that of a clairvoyant. It's not a clear image that I can see. It's more of a foresight, a subtle feeling regarding what's to come." Giving an example, he told her. "I knew Link was special, but I didn't know he was the Hero of Time until I was directly informed by the Golden Goddesses. The same goes for you. I knew you were special, so I prepared. I just didn't know that you were the Sage of Wind until you started heading into Faron Woods. Only then did I deduce what was hidden within you."

Following a few moments, Fado let loose another long and drawn out sigh of exhaustion. Her smile gradually vanished, replaced with a deeply worried look. At first, she was nervous about getting into trouble, then curious about the wise forest guardian's ability to know where she was and what she was going to do. Now that those two concerns were dealt with, her mind was shifting back to the bigger discovery she had made; being different from the average kokiri. She was ready to get down to business and discuss who she is.

"What's the matter?" The Deku Tree Sprout enquired. "I promise, I'm not going to ground you."

"No-… It's not that." Fado looked away from him, keeping her eyes on her feet while a forlorn expression spread across her face. "It's just-..." Putting her thoughts into a coherent sentence, she asked "I'm really a sage? The Sage of Wind?"

"Do you have doubts?" The plant demi-deity asked her.

Fado was quick to shake her head. "No…" However, she was also quick to retract the statement. "I have-... I mean, I did. At first, I thought it was crazy. Heck, I still don't fully understand what it even means to be a sage." Her head hung a bit as she explained further. "There's just too much evidence for me to ignore. No matter what I think, it's clear that I'm different from the others. The Know-It-All Brothers read to me one of their books; it said that a sage is usually a mature individual with a remarkable sense of purpose, which explains why I'm the way I am."

Looking away from her boots, she directed her gaze toward her hands, scrutinizing them. "The Wind Medallion chose me from the second I found it in the Forest Temple."

The Deku Tree Sprout's mossy eyebrows rapidly sunk as he stuck his wooden lips out in befuddlement regarding what she had just said. He was surprised to hear that there were two different medallions in the same temple since normally there should only be one of a corresponding element assigned to a location. This made him want to examine the ancient relic as he was yet to see it.

Fado was too distracted with her story to notice her father's confusion. She just kept talking. "I feel like it guided me through the Lost Woods and even gave protection when that evil copy of Link stalked and acted all creepy to me. It teleported me to some ruins near Farolittoral Cave. At the time, I figured it wanted me to eliminate the bokoblin camping out in front, so that's exactly what I did. Afterward; that's when Saria, Laila and Tessl found me."

"Thinking back, I feel bad about it." A frown formed on her lips. "I shouldn't have dragged them into the depths of that place." Back then, during the heat of the moment, she didn't care too much about endangering her best friend and their parental sprites. She was driven by purpose and almost hypnotized by the Wind Medallion. "It made me feel compelled to follow its guidance. It led me with supernatural gusts of wind." She grabbed her bag from off the ground. "It continued to show me the way through the cavern until we found the Woodwind Temple." Reaching inside her bag, she retrieved the green medal in advance of placing it in-between her and the Deku Tree Sprout. "It ensured that I got there and encountered Tolenli. My powers were awakening, but I had to hear the Wind God's Aria to fully take advantage of them."

The Deku Tree Sprout took a brief moment to glance at the Wind Medallion and became even further bewildered whenever he assumed he was bearing witness to the Forest Medallion. He thought that, if his memory served correctly, the object laying before them was the very same that Saria had used to awaken as the Sage of Forest during the stint in the alternate future. It was green, had a strange symbol and emanated the same energy it once had or will have. Hearing her call it the Wind Medallion as well as having used it as such was a great conundrum to him.

"It turns out, the medallion was like a key to unlocking the ability to control the wind!" Fado got excited for a moment. "Thanks to it, I'm able to use wind to knock enemies back, cushion my fall, help me jump higher and even propel my darts and arrows faster than normally possible!" As quickly as the joy had appeared, it vanished. Suddenly, her face went blank and she very slowly pushed her lips side-to-side. "It's cool and all, having powers…" She looked off into the darkness while deeply contemplating the matters at hand. "But, being a sage is something else entirely."

No matter his curiosity over the ancient relic, the Deku Tree Sprout noticed his child's demeanor. "You seem disappointed. Do you not want to be a sage? Isn't the excitement everything you've ever wanted?"

"It's exciting, that's for sure." Fado nodded her head in agreement before rejecting the notion she desired to be a sage. "But, I don't really know if I want to take on the duties of a sage." Before long, her anxiety began to increase. Her heart sank in her chest and her blood ran cold as she thought about what she might have to do. Seeing how she was in the presence of such an intelligent spirit, she blurted out her greatest concern with taking up the mantle as Sage of Wind. "I don't want to have to leave the village or stay at the Woodwind Temple for the rest of my life. The thought of never seeing you and the others makes me sick to my stomach."

"Who says you have to do either of those things?" The Deku Tree Sprout both comforted and wondered why she'd say that.

A few salty tears came to Fado's weary eyes. She sniffled and then rubbed her nose as she tried her best to not get upset at the thought, to not cry. "Nobody's said it yet. It's just that, Tolenli had to do that. Because he's the Sage of Wind, he had to leave his home behind and protect the temple for decades. He was alone for so long."

"Fado…" The Deku Tree Sprout tried calming his daughter. "I don't think you need to worry about that. Tolenli's destiny is not yours."

Sniffling again, she used the collar of her tunic to dab at the warm tears rolling down her cold cheek. While it was certainly a relief to hear she wouldn't have to abandon her family, she didn't get how it was possible. To her, it only made sense that she follow in the footsteps of her mentor. "But, I'm the Sage of Wind. Don't I have to protect the Woodwind Temple?"

"There's more to being a sage than just getting assigned to a corresponding temple." The Deku Tree Sprout informed her of what the definition of her title truly was, what it fully entailed. "Being a sage means you're an important figure, a valuable ally specifically chosen by the Golden Goddesses. It means that you're a living representation of the very same element you can harness." Watching his daughter wipe her nose, he ensured she knew the truth. "Tolenli had his own reasons for doing what he did. You're not him though. You're Fado. When the time comes, you'll be called upon to fulfill your own duties, to safeguard the innocent in your own way." Forcing a smile to assist in calming her down, he finished by saying "I'm not going to lie and tell you that you'll never leave the village, because you might have to someday. What I can tell you is that you'll always be welcome back here."

"You won't make me leave?" Fado sniffled as a soft smile gradually crept upon her lips.

The Deku Tree Sprout huffed. "Of course not."

All of the sudden, Tolenli voiced his opinion from behind them where he stood in the passageway leading from the meadow to the village. "That's not to say that you won't ever want to leave here." The red-feathered rito was holding a brown clay plate with a half-eaten slice of homemade carrot cake atop it. He forked a bite prior to eating it, savoring the uniquely rich flavour of rare kokiri cuisine.

"Tolenli..." The Deku Tree Sprout kept his smile as he greeted the avianoid. "It's good to see you again."

"Definitely. It's good to see you too." Tolenli replied as he took another bite of the cake while walking closer to the plant-god and his new protege. "How long has it been since we actually saw one another in person? Forty Years?"

"Forty-three years, two months and fifteen days." The Deku Sprout had been keeping track.

Tolenli chuckled before jesting, "You're shorter than I remember."

"Very funny." The Deku Tree Sprout poked his wooden lips out with a smile.

Looking back-and-forth between the two, Fado was surprised to know they were acquainted. "You two know each other?"

"Yes." The Deku Tree Sprout confirmed. "We used to have occasional visits."

Fado narrowed her eyes. "How come I've never seen you before?"

Tolenli ate more of the delicious carrot cake before answering. "Because, I haven't been back here since before the civil war. Besides that, the meetings were made secret a long time ago. For the last forty years, he and I have only had occasional telepathic conversations."

"This is crazy…" Fado put her medallion back inside her bag in advance of standing up.

"I still think it's crazy that you're the one who's going to replace me." Tolenli calmly stated. "But, here we are."

He came closer until he was standing next to the kokiri girl. "I'm sorry to have been eavesdropping on your conversation. All I heard was the last bit about you being worried you'll have to leave here." Finishing off the last of his piece of cake, he put the clay plate on the ground before placing his feathered hand to her shoulder. "I never meant to give you the impression you'd have to stay at the Woodwind Temple. That's my responsibility and after so long, I don't even know if it's relevant anymore."

"What do you mean?" Fado asked.

"Now that the Hyrulean Civil War is over, I don't know if I need to keep it a secret from outsiders." Tolenli responded. "It's not like it's an easy location to find… All this time, aside from you, only a single group of hylians found the place and there's no way they could have unlocked it without the medallion." Letting go of his protege's shoulder, he looked away with a bit of frustration in his voice. "It makes me wonder why I haven't been given new orders." Staring off into the distance, he wondered why the divines hadn't told him he was free to leave. The last few years, he'd been feeling abandoned, like his purpose was obsolete. Yet, he couldn't bring himself to leave the temple he was meant to protect.

Snapping out of it, the avianoid came to the logical conclusion that he was left there specifically for Fado to discover him. He might have been out of touch with society, but back when he wasn't, even then he couldn't recall ever having heard of two sages of the same element being alive at the same time. Considering this, he figured it would be best to share his knowledge with her, to train her to be just as powerful or perhaps stronger than he is. He could help her come to terms with the mantle in a way that he didn't have when he was first awakened. "I won't force you to leave your home for a senseless cause. However, I can invite you to train with me, to let me teach you things until you find your own purpose."

"R-Really?" Fado was taken aback by the offer as well as assurance she wouldn't be ripped away from her family anytime soon. "You'll train me?"

"Yes." Tolenli confirmed before feeling bad for treating the child so rough upon their first encounter. "Look, I know I was mean to you beforehand. I shouldn't have been. You were just doing what you felt compelled to do." Thinking about it, a small smile formed at the corners of his beak. "In reality, you remind me of a young me. You've got a lot of ambition, a big heart and you don't take crap from anybody."

Fado flashed a smile as the compliment made her feel good about herself. "I do? But, you basically kicked us out of the temple after you played the Wind God's Aria."

"I know… I know…" The old Sage of Wind sighed at his previous cranky actions. He tried to explain in order to make it up to her. "I was determined to see you as an invader. Even afterward, once I had a feeling you were my successor, I still pushed you to both of our limits because of my disbelief. Worst of all-… I was scared." He momentarily stopped so he could accept the reality of how he felt. "I was scared that everything was about to change. I'd been alone and doing the same thing for so long that I was terrified of my little world collapsing around me." Smiling wider, he felt glad everything occurred the way it did. "Now I know that I shouldn't have been so scared. You weren't there to take my purpose from me. You were there to give me a new purpose."

The Deku Tree Sprout had a smile of his own as he was glad they were getting along. Not only that, he was pleased to see that Tolenli had come to understand the truth. "I would have told you sooner, but I never realized the Sage of Wind was amongst one of the kokiri, especially since we already have the Fores-..." He stopped himself from divulging too much information. "Well… What's important is that the two of you have come to terms. It'll certainly be easier on you if you're not rivals."

"It's okay." Tolenli shrugged. "I understand how frustrating those of the divine can be. Nayru knows after all I've been through, if anyone can understand that, it's me."

"Hey!" Mido appeared from around the corner leading out of the meadow, interrupting the short-lived privacy. "What's going on here?" Having come from the celebration, he had a garland of colourful flowers hanging around his neck. Not only that, to satisfy his sweet tooth, he had a bowl of hard candy in his hand. The sugar rush coursing through his body made him giddy; it was also the only thing keeping him awake.

Saria was right behind, smiling happily. On her rosy right cheek was a temporary tattoo, a face painting of a yellow butterfly with black spots. "Deku Sprout, look!" She pointed to the image. "DeBe gave me a tattoo! Isn't it cute?!"

"Oh!" Migu showed up, having followed. "Are we moving the party here? I'll bring more torches!"

"Well, actually-…" The Deku Tree Sprout was about to interject before he was stopped by the arrival of several other children coming into the meadow.

DeBe brought with her a small canvas as well as her paints. "Deku Sprout!" She grinned as she came closer. "I had an idea. I'm going to paint your stages of growth!" Placing her easel off to the side, she then put the canvas on it in advance of holding up her thumb to get an idea of the guardian's scale. "Maybe someday we'll have a museum! Wouldn't that be awesome if my pictures wound up in there for all to see?!"

"Who wants sugar cane?" Higu showed up with a basket full of the kids favourite natural sucrose fix.

Saria immediately held up her hand. "Me!"

"Me too!" DeBe replied.

"Me three!" Fifi added as she joined them.

Placing the bowl of hard-candy on the ground, Mido stretched his legs. The sugar rush made him increasingly energetic. It also brought out his usual competitive spirit. "Hey! Who wants to race me?! Tigu?"

Tigu shook his head, unable to speak with his mouthful of food. Instead, he merely pointed down to the piece of carrot cake on a clay plate.

"Saria?" Mido pestered others. "Fado?"

Fado shook her head with a smirk as Saria rejected the offer. "Uhh… I think I'll pass. I've moved around enough today to last a lifetime."

"Bah!" Mido cockily laughed. "Ya'll just know I'll win!"

Seeing that all of the village was gradually showing up, having decided on their own to move the party to the meadow, the Deku Tree Sprout chuckled in response. Looking over at Tolenli and Fado, he said to them "Looks like we'll have to continue this conversation some other time." Knowing that they had a tough day, he wanted them to unwind, to enjoy themselves. "Tomorrow's a new day and we can deal with things then. For now, let us enjoy the celebration as well as each other."

Fado briefly closed her eyes as she yawned. "I think I'm going to hit the hay. So much has happened to me today, I'm totally worn out." She stretched. Her muscles ached and the fatigue was making her body sluggish. Unlike the others, she hadn't gorged herself on sugar. "Goodnight, Deku Sprout. I love you."

"I love you too." The Deku Tree Sprout warmly replied. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Fado. I'll see you soon." Tolenli gave a small wave.

Tessl saw her sleepy child about to depart. Even though the pixie was enjoying time with her fairy friends, she still made sure to check-up on her kid. Holding onto a flower with sticky golden nectar inside of it, she gently flew down from the others, took a sip of the sweetness and then said "Go ahead and get some rest, okay? I'll be there soon."

Fado nodded, then held back another big yawn and kept stretching even as she made her way out of the Great Deku Tree's meadow. On her way through the passage, she passed several other kokiri and a few fairies who were going to join the party. She waved at them without stopping to chat. Most were too excited to care anyway. This allowed her to get to her home in a short period of time, which was great since she was so exhausted. It seemed to come on all of a sudden; the tiredness overwhelming and fogging her mental capacity. However, that was to be expected now that all of the fighting was done. The adrenaline she'd previously burned for fuel had worn off and now she needed genuine recuperation in order to be at her best the following day.

After a short walk across the bridge over the brook as well as a stroll down the dirt path cutting through the village, she had made it to her home. Right away, she pushed aside the curtain serving as a door prior to walking inside with a groan. The room was too dark to see anything, so the first thing she did was light a candle using some flint and steel. Once a flame was made, allowing her to see inside the humble abode, she then proceeded to walk over to her precious treasure chest where she kept all of her trophies.

Opening the chest, she delicately placed her entire bag of supplies inside of it for safe keeping. Tomorrow, she would sort through it and allocate each item to their respective location, but for now she was too weary to properly unpack. Seeing how theft was incredibly uncommon upon her kind, she wasn't concerned with someone stealing it, nonetheless, her medallion was so valuable that she still didn't want to leave it out in the open, so she made sure to close the chest and secure its contents.

Now that her stuff was safe, she walked over to her bed. Sitting down on the side of her makeshift hay mattress, she bent down and removed both of her brown leather boots, tossing them to the side along with letting out an extended exhale as if to release all of the stress that had built up. Throwing her legs up onto the bed, she wiggled her toes and moaned as she stretched them. "Holy moley, it's so good to get out of those foot-prisons..." Again, she sighed loudly. "Next are these hair-prisons." She chuckled softly as she removed the two hairbands, letting her hair dangle freely. Following a fluff by throwing her hair back, she laid against the handmade softness of her bed. "Oh, yeah… That's so much better."

Closing her sleepy eyes, it almost felt like the whole world was spinning around her. She wasn't sure if it was due to her drowsiness or the stress from a busy day. All she knew was that it felt great to be back in her own bed. Her back cracked a few times as her posture re-aligned her spine and her muscles gradually relaxed.

'I'm so tired.' She thought to herself as she laid completely still, her eyes closed and long blonde hair puffed around her head. 'Happy, Sad, Confident, Terrified-... There's so many emotions going through me right now, but I'm too tired to be excited anymore.' The kokiri girl inhaled a deep breath as she thought 'I can't believe I'm the Sage of Wind. I can't believe the feelings I always had were because I was special.' A small smile crept upon her weary lips as she recalled her proactivity. 'I explored the Lost Woods, cleared out Farolittoral Pit Cave, uncovered and unlocked the Woodwind Temple, all so I could defeat Tolenli, so I could prove my worthiness of his so-called 'mantle'.' Recalling her battle with the army of undead, she encouraged herself with memories. 'I rescued the whole village from a bunch of friggin' skeletons.'

Her ear slightly moved on its own upon hearing a soft creak come from nearby. Nevertheless, she was too occupied with thoughts to care. She was too busy suddenly worrying about the entity that invaded her home and brought with it an army of bonemen. The smile on her lips quickly dissipated. 'I didn't get a chance to destroy that doppelganger. What if he comes back?' Although she was concerned with the possibility, she had her powers, she had friends and the Deku Tree Sprout as well as Tolenli were there to assist her. Knowing she had the help gave her re-assurance that everything would be okay. 'Then I guess I'll be waiting for him, me and everyone else.'

For the next couple of minutes, she tried quieting her mind, silencing the intrusive thoughts so that she could get some rest. It wasn't easy to do, but after a while she managed to clear her brain. Very slowly, while listening to the celebration in the near-distance, she began drifting off to sleep.

"Hey…" Out of nowhere, Saria's voice announced, seeming loud in comparison to the quiet. "Are you asleep already?"

Fado's eyes flew open, jolting from surprise. She didn't expect the green-haired kokiri girl to be standing there in her room. She didn't expect anybody to be visiting her, but was at least glad it wasn't an intruder coming to kill her so they could steal the Wind Medallion. Regardless, her heart was beating out of her chest. "S-Saria?! You scared the crap out of me."

"I'm sorry." Saria blushed lightly while delicately tapping her index fingers together. "I didn't mean to scare you so badly."

"It's fine-..." Fado waved off the apology as she propped herself up in her bed. A few strands of her long hair dangled in her face. She brushed the obstructing blonde locks to the side, calming down from the brief scare. With her awareness fully returned, she just wanted to know why her friend had come. "I was almost asleep. But, it's okay. What's up?"

"Maybe I should just tell you tomorrow. You need sleep." Saria turned around and was about to leave.

Fado rolled her eyes and sighed. She wasn't positive what game her partner was playing, but was too exhausted to keep it going. Instead, she pointed out the obvious. "What's bothering you? You already came here and woke me up; you clearly have something on your mind." Scooting over, she then patted the spot next to her. "Come here. Sit down." Forcing a soft smile so her friend knew she was serious, she persuaded her to stay. "You know I'm always here to talk to you."

Saria turned back around. Her face was more flushed than before, yet seeing Fado's caring smile made her relax enough to feel comfort in the girl's presence. Feeling that way, she made her way over to her friend's bed and gently sat down on it, their hips touching from the close proximity. "Well…" She stopped, cleared her throat and then explained "It's just-..." Leaning back against the bedframe, she struggled to form a coherent sentence. "G-Geez, this is harder than I thought it would be-..."

Not understanding why Saria was being so bashful, Fado reached out and placed her hand atop her friends. "Just tell me."

Gazing down at Fado's hand atop hers, Saria's rosy cheeks intensified tenfold. Nervousness caused her to nibble on her lower lip, to look away and her voice to crackle. Even though she was oftentimes rather timid, she also wasn't a fan of keeping secrets, preferring to never hide what she knew. This trait made her admit something she'd been pretending not to notice ever since they went into Farolittoral Cave together. "Fado-..." Her vocal cords tightened, making her pitch higher until she cleared her throat again. "Fado… I… I know you have feelings for me." With her free hand, she quickly covered her mouth, becoming evermore embarrassed at the admission. However, nothing could keep the words from spilling between her fingers. "I know that these… feelings-… Well, I know that they're more than friendly. Right?"

Fado immediately retracted her hand from off of Saria's. At first, she was stunned, too stunned to say or do anything. Yet, after a few seconds, her face reddened immensely. Her eyes zoned out as her body gradually reeled in response to the shocking revelation. She was horrified to realize that her best friend had somehow found out about the secret crush she'd held. After all that had happened earlier, she was exhausted and stressed; this added to that anxiety unlike anything else. There was a level of fear growing within her that this discussion was about to turn into a rejection, a warning even that the green-haired kokiri wasn't into such an unnatural relationship. Anticipating such a traumatic possibility made her fret for them. She knew that uncovering such a topic would definitely change their friendship, no matter how hard they tried to act as if it wouldn't. Unfortunately, no matter the constant speculation, all she could do was wait and find out.

"Yeah…" Was all that managed to slip from her.

Saria gradually turned her head, very slowly looking over at her friend. Her blush was so much it was making her feel hot inside and out. Still, she persevered, wanting to explain the situation in its entirety. "Fado-..."

"I'm sorry…" Fado quickly tried to apologize. "I'm so sorry, Saria."

Out of nowhere, Saria leaned over, gently grabbing onto Fado's shoulders in advance of planting a tentative kiss on the scared kokiri girl's lips. Her violet-coloured eyes shut tight as she did so. She'd never done such a thing and certainly didn't plan on doing so tonight. Then again, aside from the heat of anxiety, she was amazed at how good it felt to kiss a person. The short contact was enough for her to find out the softness of Fado's lips as well as how good she smelled.

Fado was completely unable to close her eyes. In fact, they were as wide as dinner-plates due to the surprise. She couldn't believe what was happening, wondered if this was a dream and almost wanted to pinch herself to make sure it was reality. Although it took a while for the shock to wear off, soon she too found herself relishing the impromptu lip-to-lip contact. The sensation was too pleasurable to miss by brooding over possibilities. Pushing aside the sheer disbelief, she greatly enjoyed the action. Instead of thinking about how or why, she just let it happen. She let her green-haired crush indulge her and even got to briefly taste her sugarcane flavoured essence. The warmth emanating from Saria's flushed face, the plumpness of her lips, the scent of sweat mixed with grass and creek water; these sensations were overwhelming to the young sage.

Despite lingering way longer than she realized, Saria did eventually pull away, breaking their romantic smooch. Her lips slowly parted from Fado's. She opened her eyes, meeting her stupefied friend's longing gaze; violet irises locked with blue. While her sweet tasting lips were buzzing in response to the kiss, her pulse was so high that her love-stricken heart was about to beat out of its chest.

Staring back at her crush, Fado's mouth fell open from the spur of the moment decision. Just like Saria's, her heart was drumming against her ribcage. Her body was so warm it felt as if it were going to catch on fire. "S-Saria…" She struggled to speak without stuttering. "Why did yo-..."

Not letting the sentence finish, Saria gently held her index finger up to Fado's freshly kissed lips. "Because I didn't want you to worry I was disgusted in you." She swiftly admitted, lowering her finger in advance of continuing "The truth is, I have similar feelings."

Fado's eyes nearly bulged out of her head as she scrutinized her best friend head-to-toe. The sage's whole body was shivering in a mixture of anxiety and delight. "S-Seriously?!"

"Yes…" Saria confirmed, though the embarrassment made her face burn cherry red. "I started having them back whenever the infection in the Lost Woods spilled out into the village, back when Link returned after Malon rescued him." She softly slapped her hands to her face, covering her humiliation over the memories. "I… I'm sure it was that nasty doppelganger's fault-... But, the effects made me think strange thoughts." Not wanting to divulge precisely what those thoughts were, she skipped to the following part. "Even whenever everything was fixed, I found myself-... Well, I found myself wanting more."

Fado blinked rapidly as she struggled to process it all. Hearing how Saria wanted more in life, it resonated on a deep level as she herself could relate. Being a sage, she too wanted more. On the other hand, ambition isn't the same as romance. "W-What do you mean?"

Lowering her hands, Saria looked away, still downplaying the over-abundance of affection she held for a certain boy. "Link was and still is my best friend. Except, he's also a kid I raised, a hylian kid. Not only that, he's special, he's the Hero of Time." Letting out a small sigh of exasperation, she proceeded to lightly kick her feet back-and-forth off the side of the wood framed bed. "Now that he's gone, I started feeling lonely. I understand that he had to go, but it still stings to lose someone who's been a part of me for so long."

"Oh, Saria…" Fado expressed remorse by softly placing her hand to Saria's arm. "I didn't know."

"It's okay." Saria sniffled, dabbed at a tear forming in her eye and then looked over her caring friend. Once more, their gaze connected. "It's okay. I have you now."

Fado's cheeks flushed more. "M-Me?"

"Yeah…" Saria giggled bashfully. "You think I didn't notice your eyes on me when we were in the Woodwind Temple? You had your own stuff going on at the time, so I didn't bring it up, but I knew you were having n-naughty thoughts. I caught you ogling me several times." Even though she had a smile on her face, she was immensely embarrassed to be discussing the matter. "Trust me, it was flattering."

"I...I really think you're beautiful and smart. You're the most responsible kokiri in the village." Fado choked out with a crackling voice.

Saria scooted a little closer to her newfound love interest, letting their arms rub up against one another. Her adorable smile grew wider, but her blush stayed red as a tomato. Following the automatic sough in response to the wholehearted compliment, she cooed "Aww, that means a lot." Leering at Fado, she fluttered her eyelashes as she found the girl's loose blonde hair to be a cute sight. "I think you're beautiful too. You're also strong, brave and definitely the most dedicated kokiri I've ever met in my life."

Fado's usual boldness was overtaken by meekness as she found herself beginning to swoon over her crush's flirtation. "W-What does all this mean? Are we-... A-Are we-...?"

"In love?" Saria finished the sentence as she leaned closer.

"Are we?" Fado leaned closer as well. "Can kokiri fall in love?"

No matter how intelligent or experienced she was, Saria didn't know. She could only shrug. "I'm not sure. We're not regular kokiri though, right?"

"That's true…" Fado confirmed. "I'm a sage and you're Link's mother."

For the next couple of moments, the two girls silently stared longingly at each other. Just being together, touching, it made them happy. Regardless of whether or not their relationship as kokiri or even the same gender was the societal norm, they both clearly desired it. Their recent intimacy had just verified that they had valid romantic feelings for each other.

"Yes…" Saria suddenly piped up, ending the silence.

Fado cocked her head to the side, unsure of what was meant. "Huh?"

"The answer to your question of if we're in love." Saria entwined her fingers with Fado's. "Yes."

Fado took a deep breath, then ran her tongue on her lips to get the lingering taste of their first kiss. "We won't get into trouble?"

Giggling softly, Saria shook her head. "With who? There's no way the Deku Tree Sprout would disapprove of true love. Nobody else has any opinion on the matter. It's our lives, we can do what we want with them."

"I… I'm not sure I know how to be in love." Fado made sure her partner knew her concerns.

"Me either." Saria immediately stated. "I know that a few couples have existed. The Great Deku Tree has made a few passing mentions of our ancestors being girlfriend and boyfriend. From my understanding, hugging and hand holding was about the extent of it."

"That makes sense. Other than kissing and touching, what else is there?" Fado naively replied, unaware of the later stages of romance. As a kokiri, she was birthed from a magical process that took place atop the Great Deku Tree, having existed in her current form since that moment onward. For her species, there was no need for sexuality, no need for puberty, pregnancy or parents. She and the others were eternal children of the forest.

However, Saria was a bit different. Although she was definitely a kokiri with the same characteristics as Fado, she was more well-informed. Having raised Link, as his maternal figure, she had to know more about basic human biology than the average villager. She had to teach the Hero of Time many things necessary for him to prepare for normal hylian life. This gave her knowledge of relations and reproduction, a topic that none of the other kids even dared to fathom talk of, let alone do. Although the majority of stuff like that was far too lewd for her to care for, it was still present in her mind and immediately flustered her to think of.

"That's the good thing about being a couple-…" She said in order to dissolve her playful imagination. "We can find out together."

Fado gazed into Saria's violet eyes as she got close enough to feel her breath. "Do you want to try?"

Saria slowly nodded. "I do."

Once again, their small lips pressed together. This time, there wasn't any hesitance or embarrassment, just fervid desire. They wrapped their arms around each other, cherishing the shared warmth and softness of their bodies. Both of them had their eyes closed. Without the anxiety, the smooch was intoxicating and so was the exchange of scent. Neither wanted to pull apart, feeling like their intimacy was a true heaven on earth. Every ounce of stress from earlier was melting away into the comfort of their embrace. Yet, after what felt like an eternity, they did finally pull apart.

"Sleep with me?" Fado impulsively asked with throbbing hearts in her deep blue eyes.

"Yes." Saria giggled as she got up off of the bed, stretched and then took her green leather boots off. "I'm so tired."

"Me too." Fado flashed a wide smile over the sleepover. Moving around, she crawled up toward her pillow. Pulling the blanket back, she then laid down in a more natural position than she had previously fallen asleep in. "It's going to feel so good to get some rest." Holding up the blanket for her partner, she waited until Saria laid down next to her before she covered them. Same as before, she could smell fresh grass coming from the girl, yet now the sugarcane as well. "Especially if I get to wake up next to someone as sweet as you."

"I love you." Saria said as she proceeded to snuggle up to her blonde girlfriend.

Fado's lips quivered in delight upon hearing those three precious words. She was so happy that she could barely stand it; each time it repeatedly echoed around in her head, she trembled in joy. Not wanting to seem as if she were delaying a response, she made sure to say "I love you too."

.

.

[Time: 3:45 A.M. (Late Night)]

[Date: Month 8 'Autumn', Day 04, 8th Era]

(Location: Hyrule, Kakariko Village, Central)

.

It was the wee hours of the morning for the swiftly growing settlement of Kakariko Village. The place had always been rather peaceful, especially in comparison to the hustle bustle of Castle Town. During the night, it was almost silent; noisy crickets and occasional creaking from the windmill being the only audible sound. Most of the residents were still in their homes, fast asleep in their cozy beds. Even the livestock was resting. However, like anywhere that had enough population, there were always people who were awake at the latest/earliest of times. Aside from the nocturnal cats roaming for a tasty rodent to snack on, the local Master Craftsman was already up, getting ready to start the day. Unfortunately for him, he hadn't had a great start as he had just finished arguing with his incredibly pessimistic son.

"Grog… Come on." An elderly lady, colloquially known as the Old Hag of the Position Shop, said to her depressed son as she wheeled her wheelchair through the threshold of their home's front door. She had long brown hair that was beginning to turn gray. Aside from deep wrinkles, her huge curved nose hung low and had a dorsal hump that made her look like a witch. Due to her advanced age, she made sure to dress for warmth, donning a black sweater, a small plaid blanket around her shoulders and a white skirt she had crocheted herself. The wheelchair she used was a simple wooden one with a lever on the right armrest that would lock the brakes when pulled. "Come back inside. He didn't mean it."

"Yes he did." Grog, the Master Craftsman's Son, frowned with a sullen look in his eyes. In spite of being shirtless and showing off a six-pack of abs, he was a scrawny young man. Unlike his well-dressed mother, he wore only a musty green pair of pants and brown leather loafers. His disposition was rather sour, so the silver rings he wore on both ring fingers represented his future as well as his past. "He disgusts me. All he wants is for me to join his crew so I can work my ass off."

The old lady shook her head in disagreement. "He's your father. All he wants is for you to feel better about yourself."

"How!?" Grog yelled before quieting down so he wouldn't awaken everyone. Seething with anger, he walked over to the tree near the entrance to the settlement. "Ma, how is getting me to build peoples houses going to make me feel better about myself?"

Wheeling closer to her son, the crone tried to explain. "It'll give you a purpose. You'll be giving back to the community instead of laying around like a bum."

The bitter punk clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth. His lip curled up in revulsion to his mother's words, no matter how logical they were. As he slumped against the trunk of the tree, he just waved her off, dismissing what she said. He even accused her of working in tandem with his father. "You're just as disgusting as him! Ughh…" Shaking his head, he grumbled. "Neither of you focus on me unless I'm making a scene! You don't care about me! It's all, work-work-work!" His tone grew increasingly louder as he stopped concerning himself with what anybody else thought about him. "Can't you think of anything other than drivel? Why can't we go find somewhere else to live, somewhere without all these damn people?! They're a nuisance! I could give a shit less if they need help!"

"You need to calm yourself." His mother became more serious now that her son was on the verge of being out of control.

"Why!?" Grog continued to shout. "I hate my life! I hate the both of you! I hate everyone!"

"You're just mad." The old lady ignored his rudeness after having experienced it for so long. "Calm down and come back inside. We'll have some tea while we talk about this."

The skinny pale hylian crossed his arms as he rejected everything and everyone. "No! I don't want tea! Just leave me alone!"

From within their home, a gruff voice called out. "What in the name of Din is goin' on out there?!" Appearing in the doorway was the man's father, the Master Craftsman. He was an older big-boned gentleman with a barrel-chest. Although he was bald, he still had his gray mustache. The blue silk jacket he wore was open, exposing the sleeveless cotton jumpsuit beneath. His shorts were bubble-style and their white and yellow design with black stripes was heavily reminiscent of the tigers he hunts for sport. The man was a workaholic. On the other hand, he had an issue with anger similar to that of his sons and had no problem berating the punk when he deemed necessary. "So help me boy, if you're out here makin' noise while everyone's asleep, I'm gonna konk you in the head!"

"Just leave me alone!" Grog pouted. "Both of you, go away!"

"Get in this house!" The Master Craftsman barked an order.

Snarling at his father, the young punk spit on the ground. "Screw you!"

"What did you just say to me?" His father's eyes bulged from his head as his face began to redden in irritation over his immature son's insolence.

"I said screw you, old man!" Grog repeated himself just to further pester his already furious father.

The Master Craftsman heaved with anger. His arms dropped to his sides right as he stomped toward Grog's direction. "Why, you disrespectful little cumberground!" Dramatically rolling up his silk sleeves, he made sure his son saw and knew that he was ready to throw down at a moment's notice. The man was sick and tired of being talked down to by his own spawn. "I feed you, cloth you, put a roof over your head and this is how you thank me?" Shaking his finger in the irresponsible young adult's face, he tossed his previous offer in the garbage. "When I asked you to come work for me, it's because I wanted to give you a purpose and maybe give us a chance to bond. I thought it would be neat if we renamed our company 'Father-Son Construction'. But, if this is how you're gonna act, you can forget it!"

"I don't care what you rename it! I don't want to work with you or for you!" Grog got a bit louder as he stood up to meet his father's stare, getting in the man's face. "I hate this place and I hate you! I'd rather go live in the Lost Woods than stay here another moment!"

"Then GO! Live in the forest like a barbarian!" The Master Craftsman snapped.

From the non-stop shouting, the two nearby homes abruptly brightened as the occupants lit candles to go investigate the late-night disruption. A youthful lady and her husband, both of whom wore nightgowns, opened the front door to their house, proceeding to walk outside before staring straight at the rowdy family. One older guy in pajamas pushed his window open in advance of hollering "Shut up out there! I'm trying to sleep!"

It was embarrassing to the Old Hag of the Potion Shop for her neighbors plus her customers to witness the private altercation. But, seeing her husband and son on the verge of throwing fists, she knew that she had to pipe up before things escalated. "Alright, that's enough! Both of you! Shut your mouths and get inside the house, right this instant!"

"Forget this shit." Grog brushed past his enraged father, heading toward the house. "I'm going to my room to hang with the only friend I have in this world. Vinny Vodka."

"You stay out of my alcohol!" The Master Craftsman demanded. "You didn't pay for it, you don't get to drink it!"

Grog held up his middle finger as he trudged inside their family home, making his way directly to the seclusion of his room. "Up yours!"

For the next few seconds, the Master Craftsman and his wife stood there in stunned silence. Neither of them knew what to say next or how to respond to the difficult situation of having an out-of-control son. Both loved Grog, but his horrible attitude and immense disrespect toward them on a daily basis was incredibly disappointing. It was taking a toll on them, stressing them out to their wits end. Although they didn't want to kick him out to live on his own, they didn't know how much longer they could put up with his nonsense.

The old crone hung her head, sighed, turned around in her wheelchair and then struggled to hold back a tear as she wheeled herself into their home.

However, her haughty bald husband noticed the leers from his neighbors and made sure to put them in their place. "Why don't you take a pictograph? It'll last longer." Shaking his head in disapproval of their stares, he too turned around prior to making his way back inside; slamming the door behind him.

After a while, the neighbor couple returned to their home and the old man who yelled shut his window. Within the next minute, the candle light was extinguished in the two nearby houses. Aside from the Master Craftsman, the Old Hag of the Potion Shop as well as Grog, everybody in the settlement went back to what remained of their slumber until sunrise. The entirety of the village returned to a peacefully quiet atmosphere.

For the next ten minutes, there was no movement. However, before long, a scruffy tabby cat appeared near the Master Craftsman's house. It stopped in-between the homes before scratching behind its ear, then licking its paw to clean itself. The nocturnal feline's green eyes reflected in the bright moonlight. Stretching its hind leg out, it continued to clean itself of the dirt it had accumulated while making its rounds. Only when a strange clicking sound echoed throughout the vicinity did the animal cease its routine bath, looking up with its tongue still sticking out. Its ears stuck straight up and slightly twitched as it stared at the entryway of the village.

Although it was clear enough to see the moon as well as the multitude of stars speckling the night sky, there was a dark cloud that seemingly hovered above the staircase leading to and from Kakariko Village. This weird cloud was soon sucked downward, condensing into a shape. Coming into existence with a whirring noise, an unnatural shadow abruptly appeared at the top step. Just as the entity did when it was in the Forbidden Forest, it soon manifested a physical form so it would be easier to navigate throughout the sleepy settlement. Within the blink of an eye, it morphed into the nefarious doppelganger known as Dark Link. He wasn't alone either. Behind him, following a quick flash, the possessed Phantom Ganon slipped back into reality to accompany its new master.

The feline who'd been watching this entire time, arched its back and flattened its ears. Its fur stood up as it hissed. Obviously it had a natural disdain for the menacing tulpa, perhaps able to sense it wasn't a creation of the Golden Goddesses.

Dark Link crossed his arms as he slowly scanned the surroundings to ensure he wouldn't be spotted. The residents had no clue what their village was over. Although the people couldn't see it, the doppelganger could. He could feel the negative energy radiating forth from the ground. He could perceive the ascending wisps of malice that were hidden from the eyes of local mortals. Knowing he was close-by, he proceeded to use the memories he had from when he was barely conscious and attached to his counterpart, navigating deeper into the settlement, stealthily making his way toward the center with Phantom Ganon silently hovering behind.

Passing by the big tree that Grog had been under not long ago, Dark Link then turned right, going in-between nearby homes. The unhappy cat hissed louder at the two, but ran away as the shadowy duplicate came closer. Completely ignoring the fleeing animal that spat at him, he focused on going up a flight of stone steps, passed a few more houses and then arrived at the small underdeveloped center of the village.

There between all the homes was a stone cobbled drinking well filled to the brim with fresh water. Dark Link stared down into his reflection, momentarily gazing at himself, into his own glowing red eyes. For a brief moment, he frowned. Sticking his finger into the water, he disrupted the image with a ripple so he wouldn't have to see himself. After letting out a sigh, he allowed the water to stagnate in advance of staring down into its depths. It was too dark to see beyond a couple of feet, yet the tulpa could sense the evil impressions seeping toward the surface. He knew there was a secret area at the bottom that the citizens were ignorant of. Not only did he recall it, he smirked at the thought of being so close to another potential ally.

"Are you ready?" He asked his zombified companion.

Phantom Ganon grunted with a wheeze. "Yes, Master."

Turning back into an amorphous blob, Dark Link slithered inside of the well. He could feel the water on him, but that didn't impact his near-intangibility. Instead of swimming, since he had no buoyancy, he merely let himself sink to the bottom. It was dark; not only was it night, the moonlight didn't reach that far down. Nonetheless, he could feel the stone lining. He knew he found the entrance to the secret location as soon as he felt a hole in the rocks that was big enough for him to fit inside of.

Pulling himself into the gap, he continued onward until he hit the end. For a brief moment, he was confused as he recalled their being another passage. Thankfully, after feeling around, the shadowy duplicate realized there was an air bubble above him. On one side, his tentacles were able to grip a ledge, allowing him to pull himself up and out of the water. A few water droplets trickled from him as if he were a raincloud. Where he arrived was pitch black. He could only sense that he was on solid stone because he couldn't see anything around him.

A portal opened directly behind him, both making noise in addition to providing a flash of light that lit up the small rectangular room. The possessed Phantom Ganon quickly stepped forth from the portal. But, as soon as the supernatural gateway closed, the room returned to darkness. The only source of light was their glowing red eyes.

"Do you mind?" Dark Link asked without even specifying what it was he wanted.

Phantom Ganon grunted, then without saying a word, held up its bony index finger. A small white orb of magic gradually came into existence. This time, the spell wasn't for attacking. So long as it was kept at the specter's fingertip, it provided just enough light for them to see their surroundings.

"Perfect." Dark Link smirked as he rematerialized his physical form. He looked around at the room they were in and was positive he was in the correct location. It was rectangular, but aside from the hole of water he had just come from, there didn't seem to be any other doorways. "This is it." Placing his hand to the old eroded stone walls, he felt the slime from several centuries of abandonment. Nobody had been down here in generations. The nearby water had seeped into the room, making it smell musty from the mold and mildew growing rampant. Fortunately, none of that mattered. What mattered was finding the next passage.

"If I'm remembering correctly, there should be another place somewhere around here." Looking around, he didn't see anything. On the other hand, he could sense more wisps of black magic emanating forth from the wall on the opposite side of the room. Walking over to it, he ran his fingers down the slimy stones as if he were searching for a hidden button.

Even though Phantom Ganon was hypnotized, its extra years dedicated to combat and adventure allowed it to spot precisely where the strands of condensed evil were coming from. Again, it let out a groan in order to get the attention of its master. It then lifted its finger to point out a suspicious brick at the bottom of the wall that didn't seem to fit in with the rest.

"What is it?" Dark Link enquired prior to looking at where his enslaved companion was pointing. He then saw where the Strings of Malice were grouped together. Checking where his attention had been brought to, he could feel the stone's difference in texture from the rest. It definitely felt as if it had been placed there more recently than the rest of the wall. After giving a little tug, the stone dislodged, coming out of the hole and thus exposing a small tunnel leading deeper into the secret tomb. "Good find." He praised his possessed partner. "I knew there was more than one reason I chose you as the first."

Placing the rock off to the side of the hole, prior to crawling inside, he said "Meet me on the other side."

Instead of shrinking down to a child, the size needed to pass-thru the tunnel, he chose to evaporate into the intangible fog form he often desired. Even though the passage was narrow, he squeezed his way to the other side.

Same as the previous room, the next was pitch black. The only light came from the dim rays coming out of the tunnel; which soon disappeared too. Fortunately, a portal opened, providing illumination as Phantom Ganon stepped through. After that, the possessed phantom used its powers to brighten the area. They found themselves on a ledge with a ladder leading down to an extra-tall room. Dark Link promptly descended until he found himself at a metal grate that had been built halfway above the floor. Not only did this grate serve as a walkway over ten feet (3m) of foul smelling water from the overflow reservoir, it was also a defense feature that prevented anyone of significant size from crossing.

He turned back into the adult form of his nemesis with an eerie whirl of his mirror-molecules. Thankfully, his zombified companion could hover. Otherwise, the extra weight would have caused the walkway to collapse.

There were bones scattered about, some stuck between the holes of the grate, some piled up in the corners. Chains hung from the ceiling where prisoners were once tortured by being repeatedly dunked into the water beneath. A doorway was on the other side, with the metal door having rusted away enough to fall off the hinges. Some unlucky deceased person's entire skeleton rested next to it. After that was unknown as it was too dark to see into the next room.

"We need to find the crypt." Dark Link spoke aloud, reminding himself of his goal as he started across the old metal grate.

Neither of them expected a Big Skulltula to use its webbing to suddenly descend from the ceiling. The oversized arachnid almost fell atop the shadowy doppelganger and would have had he not jumped out of the way. Upon landing, the metal grate creaked loudly from the stress, threatening to collapse. It wouldn't be pleasant for him if it did, but he had to fight.

Trying to be as gentle as possible, he hopped up onto his feet in advance of leaping at the monstrous spider. "I got this!" The duplicate hollered to Phantom Ganon, not wanting the dimensional ghost to intervene as he was going to eliminate the enemy his own way.

Colliding with the eight-legged arachnid, Dark Link grabbed onto its skull-shaped carapace. The animal hissed as it began swinging side-to-side in an attempt to free itself. He hung on with all his might. Not wasting time, he pressed his feet down onto the enlarged skulltula's head and pulled on the carapace as hard as he could until the shell slowly peeled away from its toros. Understandably, this caused the spider immense pain, making it hiss louder and even spin in a last ditch effort to shake free. Dark Link didn't stop though. He kept going until the carapace was completely ripped off, exposing a sticky abdomen torn raw beneath.

"You're mine now, you son-of-a-bitch!" He growled before manifesting a dagger. In the blink of an eye, he slit its stomach open.

The Big Skulltula made a strange high-pitched wheeze in advance of letting go of its webbing. It fell onto the metal grate. The entire walkway shook and creaked, yet by sheer luck, the impact still didn't make it collapse.

Since he was given the chance to do so, Dark Link kept attacking. Now that the menacing arachnid had been deeply lacerated, he kicked his foot to break inside of its split open abdomen. Following a few more strong juicy stomps that sent green blood splattering upward, the Big Skulltula was killed. He only ceased whenever its legs curled up. Only afterward did he pull his foot out of the creature's thoroughly smashed insides and even then he checked to ensure it was dead by slinging the detached carapace downward, making sure it slammed into the big spider with a lot of force.

"Alright…" He cracked his neck in advance of turning around toward the doorway to the next room. "Moving on."

Approaching the door, he stopped whenever he heard an unintelligible whispering. For a moment, he thought it was another enemy and got ready for another fight. But, he was surprised to quickly discover that the sound was coming from the motionless skeleton lying by the doorway threshold. Dark Link had to bend down in order to hear it better.

"You're... not... supposed... to be... here." A disembodied voice spoke from the ancient remains.

Looking up at the skull of the skeleton, Dark Link placed his hand to its shoulder before saying "None of us are." Then, he busted out laughing, rolling his eyes and dismissing the warning from the underworld. Standing up, he shook his head as he walked through the doorway, over the top of the fallen rusty dungeon door.

"This… is not… your… destiny." The disembodied voice warned one more time.

Utterly ignoring the voice's words of caution, Dark Link carried on with the rest of his convoluted plan, not about to let a confined spirit stop him. Both he and his partner now found themselves in a complex that had once served as a secret dungeon for the Royal Family's political opponents. The current room had a small pit in the center that was connected to a shallow aqueduct that encircled the central chamber in front of them. An open treasure chest sat empty in the pit and there was another small tunnel that likely led to another section, however, he knew where he was going so he skipped it altogether.

"The crypt should be to the left." He said as he stared straight ahead at the door leading into the central chamber.

"BWUAAAR!" A yelling gurgling voice echoed.

Dark Link got rid of his dagger and manifested a copy of the Master Sword in order to prepare for whatever was on its way. "What the hell?"

From both sides of the hallway surrounding the central chamber came disembodied flaming skulls flying by flapping their bat-like wings. They were undead monsters colloquially known as 'Bubbles' due to the bubble of fire covering them. In reality, they were essentially anti-fairies rumoured to be from the underworld. Aside from biting or setting their targets aflame, the skull wisps were capable of cursing anyone they touched, either draining a person's vitality or discombobulating them until they could no longer fight back.

Dark Link narrowed his eyes. He wasn't intimidated by them. Instead, he was surprised to find them there as he didn't expect any enemies to be present aside from the skulltula. "This is unexpected." Following brief speculation, he concluded their evil spirits had either respawned, they had been replaced, or resurrected due to faults in the goddesses' plan. Nonetheless, he still had to deal with them and since he wasn't sure if their unnatural power would affect him, he did his best to avoid their attack.

To his surprise, Phantom Ganon stepped forward just before the two Bubbles converged on its master's position. Sticking its bony finger out, it pointed at them both. They flapped their wings to a halt upon seeing this and the superior dimensional ghost just cracked its neck. A metaphysical shockwave was sent out as his cervical vertebra popped loudly. Upon being struck by the effect, the flying skulls were put into a trance. Their eyes glowed a red hue as the flame surrounding them became corrupted; with bits of black magic floating in it.

Now that they were hypnotized, instead of attacking, the Bubbles turned and proceeded to fly around the central chamber, following the aqueduct.

"Very good job." Dark Link praised his partner as he smirked. "They shouldn't be here, so there might be other unexpected enemies. Now, those Bubbles will help protect us." Along with a snort, he finished with sarcasm. "Not that we need protection."

He walked around the pit there in the middle of the room, ignoring it entirely. Crossing the hallway with the aqueduct, there wasn't even a point in looking left or right. The shadowy doppelganger sauntered straight into the central chamber with Phantom Ganon following behind him. Walking together, the two entities of dark magic arrived in the area where the dungeon's prisoners were once locked away.

There were two holding cells, one located on each side of the doorway. Another doorway, this one on the opposite wall, led back out into the hallway surrounding the central chamber, but just outside it, there was an alcove with a unique wall statue. In the center of the room were two wooden spreader bars that were crossed with each other, the rusty iron chains on them allowing the equipment to be used to hold an unfortunate captive spread-eagle. Not only that, the poor soul would've dangled above a shaft; cut free of their bondage upon their death so their bodies could plummet into the abyss below. Old blood splattered around the hole proved the torture device had been used a number of times. Piles of bones in both the holding cells also gave ample evidence to the place's original purpose.

"Nice decor. I could make this my home base." Dark Link jested in regards to the dark and dank atmosphere.

He strolled up to the spreader bars, about to touch it whenever he heard a strange rustling noise coming from above him. Looking up, he cocked his head, slightly surprised to see an undead entity known as a Wall Master. It resembled a humongous disembodied brown reptile hand, complete with scales as well as sharp claws. Using its pointy fingernails, it managed to hang onto the ceiling.

"Well, shit." Dark Link puckered his lips as he raised an eyebrow.

The Wall Master was essentially nothing more than a gigantic hand that had been cut off at the wrist. Nevertheless, even without a traditional brain, it still somehow knew that there was an intruder in the dungeon. Reorienting itself, the ghastly monster targeted Dark Link in advance of leaping off the ceiling, intending to fall directly atop him. Upon impact with the crazed tulpa, it immediately wrapped its fingers around his head so it couldn't be easily removed. The weight and force from the rapid descent threatened to knock both of them into the open shaft.

Dark Link felt himself tipping forwards and was quick to begin transforming into an amalgamation of darkness so that the Wall Master lost its grip. Now that he was able to float, he moved away from the open shaft so that he wouldn't be dragged into it.

After almost falling into the open hole leading to the dumping ground beneath, the Wall Master struggled before eventually climbing out. Once it did, it resumed its attack on the intruders. Dark Link was too far out of reach now as he hovered around the ceiling, yet Phantom Ganon was within range. Sensing this, the disembodied hand flung itself forward, lunging at the slow acting dimensional ghost. It grappled the possessed being and squeezed as hard as it could. To prevent from being grabbed, the Wall Master didn't stay in one spot either; quickly crawling around the armour in an attempt to find a weak spot.

Phantom Ganon stayed calm, likely lacking a proper response due to being hypnotized. Nonetheless, the specter soon reacted by catching the Wall Master, grabbing, ripping away and then throwing the monster to the ground. It proceeded to use one of its electrokinesis spells, summoning and tossing the magic with deadly aim.

When struck by the strong spell, the severed hand was instantly electrocuted. The monster's five scaly fingers violently convulsed as electricity coursed through them. It wasn't even able to prop itself up anymore, having fallen palm flat. No doubt it would likely take a while to recover. However, it was swiftly taken care of whenever Phantom Ganon used two more of the same lightning spells. Each orb, when they hit, caused the Wall Master to be thrown back until it landed right in front of the open shaft. Laying there lifelessly, it was obvious it was already dead. Regardless, the ghost went for the overkill by kicking it into the pit where it fell prior to landing with a thud.

"See what good partners we could have been?" Dark Link taunted what little consciousness was left inside his zombified companion. "Don't you think?" He asked as he proceeded to return to a solidified humanoid form.

"Yes, Master." Phantom Ganon brainlessly replied.

Momentarily thinking about it, Dark Link pondered if there were different levels of possession. "I wonder if I could lessen the spell so you could have a smidgen of freewill, just enough to have a personality. Or, maybe I could return your spirit and lock you inside your enthralled body, that way you can see what good we're doing."

Phantom Ganon merely grunts.

Hearing that, Dark Link grunts back at it. "That's all you can say whenever you don't know the answer to something?"

"Yes, Master." Phantom Ganon responded.

"That's boring." Dark Link said in advance of solidifying his form. "Oh well, come on."

Going to the left side of the chamber, passing a jail cell, they both carried on toward a third archway that led back out into the surrounding hall. As the shadowy duplicate walked, he noticed one of the possessed Bubbles flying by. He was so preoccupied focusing on the inflamed bonehead that he almost missed a room on the far side of the chamber. The open door had been busted inward, allowing whispering to emanate forth.

"Leave… this… place." A disembodied voice spoke.

"Get... out." Another warned.

Taking a peek inside of the room in hopes of identifying the source of the voices, Dark Link saw that it was an eerie catacomb. Numerous small tombs were built into the walls, all of which happened to be exactly the right size to display, as if they were trophies, the skulls of dozens of deceased prisoners. Just like how the skeleton from earlier was adamantly warning him, these decapitated heads were doing the same thing. They desperately pleaded with the determined tulpa to stop what he was doing, to leave the dungeon instead.

"You… are… not… the… hero." One of them announced.

"This… is… not… a game." A skull whispered.

"You… are… wrong." Another proclaimed. "This… is not… your… destiny."

Dark Link panned his vision across all of the telepathic skulls in the catacomb. Same as before, he chose to ignore their warnings. But, this time he responded to them with a quip. "Would you talking heads shut up already? My destiny hasn't already been chosen like all of yours has. Go back to your precious afterlife and quit pestering me." Waving them off as if they were bothersome children, he started walking away.

"HE WILL EAT YOU!" All of the skulls suddenly shouted in complete unison, their voices much clearer than before. However, following that statement, they went totally silent.

Hearing what they said, Dark Link backtracked a bit, poking his head back inside the catacomb in advance of asking them "What are you talking about?" He waited only a second prior to basically answering the question on his own. "The world-eater? Bullshit. I won't lose to that bastard. I'm going to gather my team, kill Ganondorf and then take on the malice in its own realm." It annoyed the doppelganger to know that nobody had any faith in him. But, it also infuriated him that they were no longer speaking now that he wanted to get a response from them. "I won't lose."

Walking away from the catacomb, he made his way out of the central chamber, crossing the surrounding hallway. Making their way into an arched tunnel leading through the opposite wall, a big iron grille could be seen at the other end, seemingly barricading access to the next doorway. However, upon closer inspection, at the end of the tunnel was a ledge that led down into a narrow chamber. The grille acted as an optical illusion; by being so close to the ledge, it merely gave the appearance of blocking the end of the tunnel without actually doing so. In reality, there was an opening to the fencing down in the chamber. Approach to the ledge allowed them to see the area was mostly devoid of items aside from a single standing sarcophagus pressed against the wall near the ladder leading up to his destination.

Dark Link sighed. "How much do you want to bet that sarcophagus has something in it?"

Phantom Ganon examined the stone container, sensing the undead residing within. "Yes, Master."

"Well-…" The doppelganger scratched his chin. "Let's get to it."

Dark Link hopped down from the ledge while his possessed partner just floated down like a gliding leaf. Going through the opening in the grille, as soon as they came close enough for Phantom Ganon's projected light to shine upon the sarcophagus, it began to rumble. Whatever resided within the confines was clearly disturbed by their intrusion into its secluded home.

Before they could take another step forward, the heavy stone lid to the sarcophagus gradually creaked open from the top before slamming to the ground with a thud so loud that it echoed throughout the entire chamber as well as through the tunnel leading back to the depths of the dungeon. Inside was indeed an undead being. It was a Gibdo, a mummified individual that had been wrapped in multiple layers of linen bandages; only a few strips of which were removed for where the eyes and mouth were. Clearly this one had been an important person, as per tradition for such, the desiccated corpse also had its arms crossed with a greatsword placed in the palms grasp.

Without further delay, its glowing red eyes flew open and it let out a deafening screech. The ear-splitting scream was so disorienting that Dark Link was temporarily paralyzed. He couldn't move and was only able to bear witness as the gibdo steadily stepped out of the sarcophagus. On the other hand, Phantom Ganon was completely unphased by the sound due to already being undead. Unfortunately, the specter just stood there as the looming mummy limped forward while slowly dragging its greatsword behind it.

"What are you waiting on, stupid?" Dark Link enquired. "Attack it!"

"Yes, Master." Phantom Ganon acknowledged in advance of summoning another spell. Right as the gibdo lifted its hefty blade with the intention of slicing the tulpa in half, the dimensional ghost launched a spherical electrified projectile in the monster's direction.

The mummy, once hit by the sorcery, was immediately electrocuted. It convulsed uncontrollably, its red glowing eyes blinked rapidly, jaw twitched and dried-up muscles pulsed as its entire body swayed back-and-forth, but it didn't fall over or drop its weapon. While the spell had prevented the gibdo from attacking, the effect didn't kill it and only lasted a few seconds before wearing off. As soon as there wasn't electricity coursing throughout the monster's body, it resumed its assault.

Dark Link's paralysis disappeared, allowing him to jump out of the way right before the gibdo slammed its mighty greatsword onto the spot he had just been standing at. "This shouldn't be so hard?!"

Phantom Ganon hovered off the ground before giving an attempt at taking control over the powerful undead being. The specter lifted and pointed its bony index finger at the mummy, just about to perform a possession spell whenever it found itself being assailed by the gibdo slinging the greatsword directly at it. Upon impact, the enlarged sword pierced Phantom Ganon's brawny cuirass, forcing it back against the grille where it became pinned.

Although the dimensional ghost was stuck, it was still alive. It grabbed onto the handle of the weapon sticking out of it and started pulling the blade free.

In the meantime, without its weapon, the gibdo turned to Dark Link and lunged at him. The tulpa's response was to summersault backward in order to get out of the way. Nonetheless, the angry mummy kept trying. It lumbered forward prior to having its right hand sliced off by the shadowy duplicate's Master Sword replica. Since it was basically a zombie, the gibdo didn't stop no matter the fact that it lost an appendage. Dark Link even stabbed its chest, but the sword just went in and came out without doing much damage.

"Alright, I'm sick of you already..." Dark Link grumbled about the situation before targeting the gibdo's brain, knowing how important it was to destroy in order to properly eliminate anything undead. Unfortunately, the moment he made the jab, the mummy happened to lower its head. Not only did the monster avoid being hit, it reached down and bit him right on the neck. "GHAAA!" He expressed pain as well as surprise when the corpse's rotten teeth sunk into his manifested flesh. "GET OFF OF ME!" The tulpa hollered. On impulse, he pushed with all of his strength to get the gibdo away from him, yet that just caused it to tear his blackened skin open, exposing a throbbing mass beneath that bled with thick black blood. "FUCK!"

Automatically grabbing onto the flesh wound to stop it from bleeding profusely, he stumbled back a bit. More than anything, he couldn't believe the mummy had gotten such a critical hit on him. Were it not for his anatomical make-up, he would've had his carotid artery torn from his neck.

Phantom Ganon finally freed itself from being impaled. After pulling the gibdo's sword out, the specter descended to the ground before returning to the fray. It kept the weapon, commandeering and using the blade by slicing the undead shambler's right kneecap.

Although the offense didn't kill the monster, it was definitely left disabled, crippled by having its patella split open. The gibdo fell onto its right knee, further breaking the bone and causing it to be unable to stand. Since it wasn't really alive, it didn't feel any pain from the attack. Instead of seething in agony or running away now that it had been greatly damaged, the mummy merely kept at it, limping on one leg while dragging the other behind as it crawled forward. Black blood spilled from its rancid mouth as it kept its arms out in front of it, ready at a moment's notice to grab onto Dark Link any chance it gets.

"Nice thinking for a brainwashed ghost." Dark Link commended Phantom Ganon's crippling attack. "Now we can take it out!"

Dark Link approached the groaning mummy, raising his sword while being careful to not let the monster grab onto his leg. Now that it was crippled, he was able to take better action. In one fell swoop, he sliced the gibdo's head clean off of its shoulders. His manifested replication of the Master Sword wasn't nearly as strong as the real thing, but it easily severed the dried-out flesh without any issue. No blood spouted from the torso's decapitated stump since it had been desiccated ages ago during the preservation process; nonetheless, its head flew through the air, hit the wall behind it, fell to and then rolled on the ground. Its body tensed up prior to collapsing.

"There we go!" The doppelganger was happy he'd finally defeated the tough enemy. "It's about time." However, grabbing back onto his neck wound, he winced. "I still can't believe that bastard managed to take a chunk out of me. That was really unexpected-..." Holding his hand out for a moment, he stared at his thick blood before finishing his sentence. "-...and it hurts."

Hearing the gibdo still moaning like a rabid animal, Dark Link took a quick glance at its lifeless linen-wrapped body in advance of realizing that the noise was actually coming from the head. Even though the undead being had been thoroughly decapitated, the necrotic brain kept working its head. It continued to viciously growl, snap its old teeth and stare at them with angry glazed over eyes.

"Ughh…" Dark Link expressed annoyance. "What does it take to kill these things?"

Walking towards the mummy's head, the tulpa carefully retrieved it, being sure to not get bitten in the process. He then stared at it for a moment in advance of heaving. His stomach muscles wretched and he audibly gagged. Exactly like whenever he took possession of Phantom Ganon, a large tentacle gradually slid forth from his open mouth, slowly traveling halfway down his chest before extending outward. After holding the gibdo's head up, within the blink of an eye, his leech-like appendage shot underneath, attaching onto the gaping hole that once connected to the neck. Unlike last time, instead of regurgitating condensed magic inside of the grunting monster, he proceeded to quite seriously suck the remaining essence out as if it were a delicious snack.

The gibdo's eyes rolled back in its severed head before seemingly imploding from the vacuum pressure of Dark Link's devious proboscis. Its mouth fell open and empty veins collapsed. A bulge of putrid juices and embalming fluid traveled through the tentacle and he drank it in a single gulp. The brain took more to be removed, but once the shadowy duplicate increased suction, it too was sucked out from the base of the skull. Same as before, he pulled the mushed organ through his tentacle in advance of eating it.

Now that he had successfully stolen the dungeon entity's spirit, he felt a surge of vitality course through him. Upon removing the thirsty appendage from the gibdo's empty head, Dark Link used the newly acquired energy to rejuvenate the damage sustained to his form. The siphoned life-force, even undead, was able to be used to heal with. As he retracted the tentacle back inside of his mouth, the nasty gaping wound on his neck gradually shrank away to nothingness. Once it was done, he casually tossed the monster's head off to the side prior to clearing his throat. "Ah. Much better."

Finished with the fight, they continued onward. Dark Link looked up above the sarcophagus at where the door to the crypt was. Without anything else stopping him, he began climbing the ladder. Phantom Ganon, however, just effortlessly floated up toward the ledge. As soon as both of them made it to the upper platform, they opened and then went inside.

Exactly as Dark Link had anticipated he'd find, on the other side of the door was the dungeon's secret crypt. It was a rotunda; having a domed ceiling and was fairly large, big enough to house six decorative sarcophagi. At the foot of each stone container were life-size hardened-clay statues of people. They all donned wooden masks, likely covering representations of those that reside within the tombs. It was a known ancient tradition of the sheikah, but still added to the immense eeriness proliferating the room. There were six pole-mounted torches, one for each sarcophagus, that would certainly improve the atmosphere if lit. On the other hand, the two enlarged horned-raven statues intricately carved out of rock at the end of the room were menacing enough to devour any attempts to remove the surrounding spookiness.

"This is the place." He said as he held the door open for Phantom Ganon. "Help me open these sarcophaguses. You get the left side, I'll get the right side."

"Yes, Master." Phantom Ganon acknowledged in advance of making its way over to the decorative stone tombs on the left side of the underground crypt. Approaching, the specter grabbed onto the lid and had little issues with removing it.

Dark Link wasn't quite as strong as his phantom companion. He grabbed onto the lid of the sarcophagus and had to use all of his strength just to slide the heavy stone lid along the body of the stone container. By the time he finished getting the lid off of one, his partner had moved on to remove the second one on its side of the room. However, the tulpa was confused whenever he found the inside of the coffin nearly empty. The only thing on the inside was a skeleton's leg with strands of malice emanating from it. Such an odd find made him raise an eyebrow, but he went to the next sarcophagus in hopes of finding who he was looking for.

After walking around to the next tomb, he gradually removed its lid as well. To his surprise, he found nothing more than a skeleton's arm and more malice on the inside. Now he reacted with confusion in addition to frustration. "What the hell? Is this supposed to be him? They entombed him in separate caskets?" Shaking his head, he moved to the last sarcophagus. Just like with the previous containers, he slowly took the lid off only to find pieces of a skeleton, now recovering the upper half of a torso. "Where's the rest of him?"

"What do you have over there?" Dark Link asked Phantom Ganon.

"Skeleton parts, Master." The dimensional ghost replied, having finished taking off the lids several minutes ago.

Walking by and looking inside of the other three sarcophagi that had been opened by his partner, Dark Link was stunned to see the rest of the skeleton's body parts. There was another arm, another leg and the lower half of a torso. Every part of the individual he had come this far for was there except for one important piece; the head. Unfortunately, he didn't see a skull in any of the coffins.

"Hmm…" The tulpa placed its hand to its chin. Looking around the room, he didn't see any other doors that might lead into a separate location. Nonetheless, he knew there had to be a step that he was missing. Places like these were complex and secrets were hidden all over; he just had to find them.

At the other end of the room, in-between the two horned-raven statues, he spotted a single wispy strand of concentrated evil emanating outward from a brick in the wall. Strolling over to the peculiar area, he felt the wall with both of his hands, all the while slowly panning his head back-and-forth for any hint. Following a bit of investigation, the doppelganger was left disappointed to not have found a hidden entrance; upset that there wasn't a torch acting as a lever or a brick to be pressed.

"There's got to be something on the other side." Pressing his ear against the wall, he gave it a knock, but the bricks were so dense he couldn't tell if there was an empty space on the other side or not. "Do you see anything I'm missing?"

"No, Master." Phantom Ganon uttered.

Stepping back from the wall, Dark Link searched for another clue. He glanced up at the vaulted ceiling, down at the floor and then at the surrounding walls. Once he scanned the whole room, he came back to the area he could see the strand of malice festering from. The moment his eyes landed upon one of the stone statues of a horned-raven, he realized he hadn't checked either of them yet.

"Hold on. Hold on." The tulpa thought aloud as he walked over to the statue on the left side of the wall.

Displayed with its feathery wings spread, the menacing looking raven was showing off the true glory of its unholy power. The statues were unique in that they were only ever seen in places that had a rather tragic history. In hylian culture, ravens were often considered to be messengers of death; mythological horned-ravens were said to be worse as they specifically represented a particular demon from the underworld. Clearly, it was a depiction of Malphis, the diabolically staunch Overlord of the Undead. A quick glance at a metal plaque adhered to the pedestal confirmed that theory.

"This statue is a connection to Malphis." Dark Link read the plaque. "In exchange for the wretched souls of those who were executed here, within this crypt he has promised to seal away the Dancer of Death, a traitorous sheikah sorcerer. The deal shall keep the evil man from ever resurrecting to torment future generations and only a member of the Royal Family of Hyrule can sing the concordant to rest."

Pondering what had been engraved in the plaque, the shadowy duplicate scrutinized every word for a potential hidden meaning. At first, he wasn't sure he understood that last part. He didn't know how the monarchy could possibly be the key to breaking the malevolent seal placed onto the crypt. Eventually, he got it. He remembered his counterpart's brief adventure in the dungeon, recalling the Hero of Time's use of the Ocarina of Time, specifically the tune that was played. Precisely like the sign said, the monarchy was vital; their melody that had recently come to be known as Zelda's Lullaby, is taught only to members of the Royal Family and has mysterious powers when played on Ocarina Platforms or near Triforce Symbols.

"I think I know what I need to do." Dark Link said in advance of being interrupted by strange noises.

"OoooOOoooOooo." Several low-pitched moans suddenly echoed throughout the burial chamber.

Whenever Dark Link spun around to investigate the haunting sounds, he bore witness to the six humanoid clay statues slowly ambulating away from each sarcophagi they had been standing in front of. They were ReDead, zombie-like sculptures. Deceased souls, those either lost or entrapped, can use them as temporary vessels to reside in. Beforehand, when the doppelganger and his partner first entered the room, he didn't think to pay any attention to them because they showed no signs of life. He had forgotten that they weren't genuine undead creatures, that their activation was only due to his disruption to the cursed crypt.

"I should have known." He grumbled about his mistake before manifesting his replica of the Master Sword.

Phantom Ganon, due to its state of hypnotization, stood there for a moment in advance of realizing what was happening. By the time it reacted, it had already been set upon by four of the ReDead. In spite of moving slowly, the chamber was small enough for the clay monsters to reach anywhere within in a matter of seconds. They clambered against the brawny specter, clawing with wooden fingernails as well as biting in an attempt to breach its magical armour. Even without real muscles, the supernatural statues were capable of forcefully pressing the dimensional ghost against the wall, preventing it from providing any assistance to its newfound master.

The two ReDead shambling toward Dark Link were hardly an obstacle in his opinion. He leapt forward, lopping the head off of the one on the right. Whenever the monster on the left stumbled forth, just about to grab a bite out of him, he grabbed onto its shoulders, ducked, slid in-between its legs and then slammed its head onto the stone floor so hard that it audibly cracked the wooden face mask.

"Take that!" The doppelganger announced.

Moaning in constant misery, the clay statue propped itself up prior to regaining its footing. Quicker than expected, it turned around, yet right as it did, Dark Link jumped up and delivered a kick to its face. The shadowy duplicate hoped to knock its head off, but his feet only broke the ReDead's wooden mask, sending its pieces flying to the floor.

"Oh…" Dark Link cocked his head to the side whenever he saw the appearance of the animated clay statue.

Beneath was a hideously deformed humanoid face that was extremely emaciated and seemed to be in the process of melting. Its nose and lips were missing. Facial features such as the cheeks, forehead and chin were sagging so much they looked like runny mud. Its teeth were very prominent. Since it had no lips, it made sense how the monster was usually able to bite through the slits in the thin wooden mask; the lack of plump flesh made it easy to sit flush on the face.

"Ha!" Dark Link impulsively laughed. "And here I thought you had a death mask. Looks like you're just ugly as shit!" Using his sword, he sliced the ReDead's legs off, crippling it. After it fell to the ground with a thud, it started crawling toward him, but he effortlessly drove his blade through the top of its head, defeating it.

On the other hand, he still had to eliminate four more of the clay statues in order to rescue his overwhelmed partner stuck in the corner. For a moment, he thought about turning into his amorphous form as it would be a cinch to dispatch the rest of the monsters using his multiple tentacles. However, he knew he couldn't keep using his stamina to transform back-and-forth. If he exhausted his energy without proper cause, he might regret doing so if he encountered a more dire situation. Considering that, he shrugged, walked behind them and then proceeded to simply shank every remaining ReDead straight in the nape of the neck. One by one, they hit the ground until all four were motionless.

"Stupid bastards." Dark Link huffed as he spun his sword around prior to letting it vanish from reality. Turning to his companion, he asked "Are you okay?"

"Yes, Master." Phantom Ganon mindlessly stated.

The tulpa clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth, rolling his eyes at the typical response he received. He was growing tired of not having a normal conversation. Pointing his finger at the specter, he said "As soon as we're out of here, I'm going to figure out a way to give you more thought. This zombified crap is boring."

"Yes, Master." Phantom Ganon repeated itself as it stared blankly.

Grumbling in annoyance, since he obviously wasn't getting through to his possessed partner, Dark Link merely ignored the troubling brainlessness and chose to instead begin making his way out of the accursed crypt. "Stay here. Secure the area so there's no surprises when I come back." The tulpa ordered. "Maybe light these torches so we can see better."

"Yes, Master." Phantom Ganon acknowledged the commands.

Dark Link then left the chamber, coming back into the gibdo room prior to jumping down from the ledge. After stepping over the beheaded mummy, he climbed up the ladder on the other side. The doppelganger was quick to cross the following hallway, returning to the corridor with the aqueduct.

While still standing in the entryway, one of the previously hypnotized flying skulls suddenly crossed by. It only took a few moments until the second came by as well. Since the frightening Bubbles continued to circle the central chamber, the tulpa found it safe to assume the area remained secured, that no new enemies had encroached upon what he'd recently cleared out. Feeling a sense of security, Dark Link stepped down into the aqueduct in advance of turning left. He trudged through the stagnant water while contemplating if he had come to the correct conclusion regarding the solution to breaking the seal, to giving Malphis rest and freeing the 'Dancer of Death' from his perpetual imprisonment.

At the end of the hallway, he turned right, walking until he came to the middle of the hallway where a doorway that led back inside the central chamber with the jail cells was. Then again, he wasn't interested in going back to that location. He was interested in the Triforce Emblem there on the floor. On the left was the sculpture he'd previously seen. A Hunsui Statue, a big stone carved sculpture of a skull that functioned as a spitter fountain; the water spewing forth from the mouth being used to wash away the blood as well as keep the surrounding aqueduct flowing. Considering the fountain's purpose had long since expired, the duplicate had no qualms about adjusting the flow again; plus his counterpart had previously done the same, so it wasn't a big deal.

That was the only thing in the entire dungeon he could think of that he could 'sing' to.

Coming to the Hunsui Statue, Dark Link examined it. He watched the old-smelling water pour from the skull's mouth. Lifting up his right arm, he held out his hand, palm up, just about to manifest a replica of the Ocarina of Time whenever a thought occurred to him. Several moments of intense contemplation occurred as he felt compelled to have an identity of his own. Looking down at his body, he saw how his form was still an imitation of his counterpart. Everything about him was a copy, but he didn't want it to be that way anymore. He wanted to be an entity of his own creation.

Smirking at the idea, instead of copying the Ocarina of Time, he decided to manifest an instrument of his own liking. It took him a while to figure out what he would actually like as he had little opinion of his own on such matters. Formulating a personal preference on such a trivial affair was difficult for him to do. Thankfully, two things assisted. He cracked his neck and stared at the water spilling out of the creepy Hunsui Statue. At first, he thought about the harp or some sort of idiophone, but those didn't quite suit his taste. Even though he wasn't against the melodic sounds of instruments made by mortals, he recalled being most enthralled by the natural noises of the cosmic sea, of all the realms circulating amongst the Plexal Plane. That ethereal humming sound could only be produced by a new musical instrument.

For a prototype, he combined a few ideas, quickly summoning a metal pan; a resonator with a tube in the top to hold onto. There were several rods of varying height and thickness attached to the rim.

"Hmm…" He made a questionable noise as he examined his own invention. "Now, how do I play it?"

Knocking on the bottom of the instrument caused a hollow echo to emit from it. Tapping on the tubes of different sizes with his fingertips created an interesting deep bass sound with incredibly long reverberation. He smiled a wicked smile as he played with his new invention, briefly experimenting with its eerily simple capabilities. Out of a creeping suspicion, he even held it out, letting a bit of water from the spitting Hunsui Statue fill the resonator. Afterward, when he tapped on the cylinders again, he received an even deeper pitch and better harmonics than previously. Following a quick adjustment to the tubes, he had completed his very own waterphone.

Stepping back onto the Triforce Emblem, the tulpa tested if the manifested instrument would work as planned. Using his index and middle fingernails as if they were the bow of a violin, he slid them across specific tubes in order to produce the corresponding notes; B, high D, A, B, high D, A. That was the exact composition to Zelda's Lullaby, the secret Melody of the Royal Family.

"That should be it." Dark Link said as he looked around, seeing if he could spot a change to the dungeon. It wasn't as instantaneous as he expected. Yet, within the next few seconds, the eyes to the Hunsui Statue closed and the water flowing forth from its mouth ceased. The aqueduct dried up fairly quickly, the water level dropping to a mere foot. In response, a heavy rumbling vibrated throughout the entire dungeon, slightly shaking the whole underground structure. Although it wasn't obvious from where the shadowy duplicate was, something clearly happened somewhere nearby.

"Perfect." He replied to the noise.

His suspicions made him assume he had to return to the accursed crypt. The tulpa walked back down the same hallway he'd just come from, turning left at the end. Upon turning the corner, he spotted one of the Bubbles coming down the corridor, heading in his direction. However, right as the flying flaming skull came to the next passage which Dark Link was going to be heading for, the hypnotized monster abruptly reacted violently to an enemy hidden just out of view. The Bubble chattered its teeth, flapped its wings harder and then dove at the unknown entity.

Dark Link couldn't see the encounter since it was occurring around the corner, but he did hear the brief skirmish in advance of seeing the Bubble being flung back into view, hitting the wall so hard that it shattered into numerous pieces and was immediately destroyed. "Great." He said sarcastically as he resumed walking towards the hallway. "What now?"

Halfway down the hallway, he came to the corridor that led back to the crypt. Even though he knew that there was something menacing seeing how it just eliminated the possessed Bubble with a single blow, after turning into the corridor, he was taken aback at what he saw. There in the middle of his path wasn't a singular entity, rather a series of skinny pale-skinned arms extending forth from broken tiles on the floor. Dark Link knew precisely what kind of undead horror those appendages belonged to, but was confused why it was in this section of the dungeon. It was his understanding that the monstrosity would be on the completely opposite side of the underground prison.

"Wait, what?" He expressed befuddlement prior to backing-up.

To the shadowy duplicate's dismay, one of the slender arms closest to him was able to reach far enough to grasp onto his leg. He reacted by trying to kick the undead arm off his shin, yet it had such a grip on him that it wasn't going to be removed by such little force. To make matters worse, the buried hand yanked the tulpa off of his feet and began pulling him into the center of the corridor.

"Damn!" Dark Link lamented. Manifesting his sword, he sliced at the creepy arm lurching from the ground.

The arm dropped him after getting cut. Unfortunately for the shadowy duplicate, now that he had been dragged further into the hallway, he found himself being grabbed by several other zombified hands. One latched onto his upper-right arm, another his throat and the third onto his left foot. The trio continued the process of yanking the tulpa down the rest of the corridor.

He had hoped he wouldn't have to transform, that he could save his stamina in reserve for a more pressing situation. Then again, this scenario was definitely calling for extenuating circumstances. Feeling as if he had no other choice, he went ahead and released control over his form, allowing himself to morph into a black blob of pure energy sprinkled with staticky lightning. Doing so made him temporarily intangible. Now the unnerving hands were unable to keep a hold of him in spite of scrambling to do so. This gave Dark Link a chance to escape, which he took by drifting back out of the hallway, intending to retreat long enough to recuperate.

Right whenever he was about to exit the area, no matter the fact that he was essentially incorporeal, the tulpa felt his cloudy body encounter resistance where there hadn't been any mere seconds ago. Tearing his vision away from the dozen lanky arms desperately reaching for him, he actually found himself slightly frightened by what he witnessed.

As embarrassing as it was for him to admit that he got scared, there blocking him from leaving the infested passage was none other than the very monster the appendages belonged to. It was a Dead Hand, a hideously deformed undead creature that enjoyed eating mortals, consuming them whole, both their flesh and their spirit to sustain itself. Unlike ReDead or Gibdo, it was barely humanoid. The hefty body was just a blobby mass of flesh splattered with blood, it lacked legs, but had arms even though they ended in bony spikes instead of hands. Only its oblong head resembled that of a person, except that too was off; having black soulless eyes, a pointy nose and an exceptionally large jaw with massive teeth.

Dark Link tried moving forward, assuming that it would now be easier to flee to the crypt. While the multitude of extended arms were a nuisance, they weren't as big of a threat as the Dead Hand was. However, his attempt was swiftly thwarted whenever he heard the undead-being growling with mocking laughter as it followed directly behind him. Unhinging its jaw, it stretched its mouth unnaturally wide-open in advance of taking a breath with such mighty force that it managed to suck Dark Link's amorphous form backward, keeping him from escaping.

The tulpa tried to resist, but he couldn't break free of the vacuum. Before long, a third of his misty form was sucked right into the ugly ghoul's rancid mouth. "NO!" He fretted the thought of being devoured. No matter how strong he was, he couldn't help but cry out when the Dead Hand chewed on him with its big sharp teeth. The pain was unbearable, unlike anything he'd ever experienced up to this point. Confounding as what was happening was, the monster was somehow able to damage Dark Link despite the latter supposedly being intangible. Its teeth tore into the dark cloud as if he were a ripe tomato exploding with juices. "Let go of me, you freak of nature! LET GO!"

Dark Link knew he had to fight back in order to escape, so he morphed a part of his mass into a tentacle. Without delay, he slammed the appendage into the Dead Hand's head. Once that was clearly not working, he reeled the tentacle back prior to drilling it into the monster's left eyeball. Thankfully, this impromptu plan worked. Although the improvised yet critical attack didn't cause the zombie to experience any genuine pain, the doppelganger was able to force the ghoul's head back until he was able to pull himself out of its masticating mouth.

"Bastard!" He cursed at the monstrosity before trying to escape again, only succeeding in traveling a few feet further before noticing he'd been cut off from retreat. "Oh, you shit! This is not what I had in mind when I played the song!" Dark Link angrily announced at the sight of all the hands now reaching up, touching the ceiling as if to form a make-shift series of prison bars. They blocked him from reaching the next room where the gibdo had been killed. Now he was required to defeat the pursuing horror as running away was made impossible. "This is definitely a test-… a test of my patience!"

Knowing that the Dead Hand was closing in on him, hearing it mournfully groan as it approached, Dark Link decided to expend a bit more stamina in order to return to his hylian form. His amorphous mass swirled around until it re-created a duplicate of the Hero of Time. Being humanoid allowed him to quickly manifest his replica of the Master Sword. Harnessing his blade's physical properties, he spun around, then took off running in the ghoul's direction. When he got within reach, he veered away to the side, jumped onto the wall, kicked off it and pounced at the Dead Hand. Right before impact, he stabbed his weapon as deep into its neck as he possibly could.

The Dead Hand roared. It still couldn't feel the damage sustained, but it had enough sapience to know such a strike could destroy it. Retaliating to defend itself, the zombie tried using the short as well as sharp bony arms attached to its blubbery torso, hoping to stab the doppelganger with them.

Dodging the attack, the tulpa flipped himself up until he landed atop the hilt of his conjured sword. His weight caused the blade to further tear the Dead Hand's neck open. Revoltingly coagulated blood poured profusely from the massive laceration. Adding to the grossness by a severely increased factor was that the chunky necrotic fluid was a sickening green colour and had wriggling maggots floating in it. The zombie gradually spun in a circle and flailed a bit as a result of the grievous damage, so Dark Link took the opportunity to climb onto its back. He punched it several times before grabbing the back of its freakily elongated head and bashing it against the wall over and over, not stopping until he started growing tired.

By the tenth slam, the Dead Hand's face had been smashed inward; its skull was shattered in numerous places. The zombie couldn't feel the pain, yet was disoriented due to its senses being sent spinning. Using the brief opening now that it wasn't attacking, Dark Link held onto both sides of the monster's head before using all of his strength to snap its rotten neck. Performing the deathly maneuver wasn't as easy as he thought it would be, he couldn't do it in one turn and even had to use his right elbow to get more leverage. However, since the flesh was putrid, he was more capable than if it were a living creature with a fresh body.

"DIE!" He hollered as he forced the undead entity's head to one side until its spine snapped.

After hearing the popping of its cervical vertebrae, he pressed more until the Dead Hand's head rotated a hundred and eighty degrees. Being face-to-face, it stared at him with glazed over eyes. Even though he had to be careful to not get bit since it was so close, the shadowy doppelganger smirked at his result in advance of pulling upward, slowly tearing the skull off of the body. All of its decayed arteries and vile tendons were torn with a sickening split. Right whenever the head was free enough to do so, he yanked it off, removing the brain from its bloody blubbery torso. The broken spine then dangled beneath the be-headed head as the ghoul's body collapsed to the ground. Each extra-long buried hand that had been blocking the passage suddenly shriveled up.

"Yes! YES!" Climbing off the revolting Dead Hand body, Dark Link gladly celebrated his success, laughing maniacally as he held the decapitated zombie head up like a rightfully awarded trophy. "Take that, you freaky son-of-a-bitch!" Following more gloating by dancing about, he then flung the undead head at the wall. "Whew!" He exhaled with a smile still frozen upon his lips.

After picking up his replicated Master Sword, he made sure to ram it through the zombie's mangled head, wanting to be positive that it was permanently destroyed. Seeing that its fetid body lay motionless in addition to the fact that its many hands had decomposed down to nothing more than gory bones, he felt it was safe to assume that the Dead Hand was eliminated. This allowed him to once again retrieve his weapon, yanking it from the skull before resuming his trek back to the dungeon's crypt.

No matter how excited he was from being scared or having to fight such an unholy enemy, the motivated tulpa was quick to change its mood, becoming exceedingly unhappy the moment he returned to the newly lit burial chamber. While he might have been glad that he was able to make it back, he was quite furious that his mindless partner was still standing in the exact same spot it had been left at, doing nothing other than staring at the wall. In his opinion, the brainwashed companion must've heard or at least sensed the rambunctious commotion occurring just outside the room. Knowing that the dimensional ghost could have helped but for some reason did not, it simply enraged him beyond belief.

"Why didn't you help?!" Dark Link interrogated as soon as he walked inside the crypt, approaching the specter to poke his finger in its brawny chestplate. "I know you heard me fighting out there!"

Phantom Ganon stared blankly at its master prior to reminding him what he had previously said. "I was ordered to remain at and guard this position."

Dark Link clenched his jaw and shook his fist at the specter. However, he knew that it was correct, that he had issued the command to stay there. Knowing that, all he could do was grab his face, pull down in exasperation and then sigh loudly. "Fine… Fine… But, if I find out you're holding back to spite me, I'll have you annihilated."

"Yes, Master." Was all Phantom Ganon said.

"Ghaa!" Dark Link grumbled in response to his partner not having a single thought in its head. He was immensely aggravated by it. Nevertheless, he knew other matters needed to be tended to first.

Taking a look around the burial chamber, he immediately noticed a change to the environment. An opening had been revealed on the wall between the two carved statues of Malphis. Inside, the secret passage led to a smaller room that had only a single tomb in it. Unlike the other six sarcophagi, this one was wrapped in rusty iron chains as if in an attempt to prevent the inside occupant from escaping. On the top of the lid was a dusty pair of musical bongos and on the front was a plaque. If that wasn't enough of a confirmation for him that he had found who he was looking for, he could also see the condensed strand of malice emanating forth from that very spot.

"I think this is it." He spoke to himself, not bothering to communicate with his possessed partner. "It has to be."

Sauntering into the secret room, he approached the sarcophagus in advance of reading the engraved plaque that was bolted to the front. "Condemned here is the undead head of Lord Bonzo, the Dancer of Death. For his horrible crimes, he shall forever be entombed separately from his body, never allowed to reincarnate." He let out a sigh of relief, glad that he had finally found who he'd been looking for; his next companion. "As for he who will be sound, beware of forcefully removing this stone from its place. Never forget the betrayal."

Dark Link rolled his eyes at the cryptic warning. He was far too elated by the discovery for the unknown to concern him. Walking around the tomb, he laid his hand upon the lid in advance of feeling it. His fingers slid on the stone before gently fiddling against the rusty iron chains. The restraints were the last barrier stopping him from gaining an additional ally. Searching them, he wasn't able to spot a lock binding the links. In fact, he discovered several spots where the chains had been made whole by extra links that had obviously been forged long after the others. For all intensive purposes, the chain was a complete loop with no end. It was truly never meant to be removed.

Had there been a lock, he could have made an attempt at picking it. Then again, he still wasn't perturbed. Now that he'd gotten out of the forest, he had an ace up his sleeve when it came to brute force. "Hey, Phantom." Dark Link called out to the specter. "Come over here and pull these chains off this sarcophagus."

"Yes, Master." Phantom Ganon hovered into the secret room, coming up to the tomb.

It grabbed onto the chains and pulled using more force than his owner, in his current form, was capable of. The metal was thick, but old. What rust had formed on the outside was proof that they were corroded. This gave just enough leeway for the brawny entity to pry them up and away from the surface of the sarcophagus lid. Given the proper leverage, it was now able to yank, pulling with more strength until several of the antique links creaked loudly and then busted. Little pieces of metal flew through the air at high-speed, bouncing off of the nearby walls.

"Perfection!" Dark Link clapped with glee as he watched the chains get violently removed. "Open it for me!"

Once the chains were pulled off, Phantom Ganon threw them to the side. It took hold of the sarcophagus lid and proceeded to effortlessly pull it off. Due to the pressure differentiation, a thick cloud of thousand-year old dust floated upward from the tomb, momentarily choking out the entire room in advance of dissipating. Whenever the heavy lid was discarded, as soon as it struck the floor, it clattered with a loud reverberation that echoed throughout the rest of the burial chamber.

Dark Link was so excited to near the end of his current objective that he could hardly contain the anticipation boiling within him. Smiling with glee, he approached the final sarcophagus, peering inside with high expectations. To his dismay, instead of a powerful sorcerer's decapitated head, instead of a chance to reunite Lord Bonzo with the rest of the body, he merely found a dried-up inanimate skull and nothing more. The tulpa's happiness immediately vanished. Not only was he confused by the lack of activity, he was vexed by the lack of pay-off after all he had just been through.

"You've got to be kidding." He responded in disbelief. Reaching inside the sarcophagus, he grabbed onto the skull and then lifted it out. Holding it up, he said "This is it? A dead skull?!" Feeling his anger grow, he wanted to throw the remains against the floor. "What happened to his legendary ability to reincarnate? Was it all some lie to make him seem more powerful than he really was?" Shaking his head incredulously, he tried to come to a proper conclusion. Taking a look around at all the work that had been put into building the dungeon, he couldn't imagine that to be the case. "No-… No, that doesn't make sense. They spent a lot of rupees and a lot of effort to make this place. They must've had some proof he could come back."

Returning his stare to the skull, he narrowed his eyes. His hopes had been so dashed that everything else seemed futile. No matter what he expected, he had clearly not gotten. Lord Bonzo was obviously deceased and not coming back. "Maybe his magic ran out." Letting out an extended sigh, he leaned against the sarcophagus while collecting his thoughts. "I guess not even the infamous last forever."

"Master…" Phantom Ganon abruptly called out. "We are not alone."

"I know-…" Dark Link expressed his exasperation by hanging his head in defeat. "There's several others we can recruit, but it's still disappointing that we came all this way for nothing more than an inanimate skeleton."

"No. There is someone else in the room with us." Phantom Ganon reiterated.

As soon as it fully registered what his partner was actually trying to say, the shadowy duplicate's eyes widened in alertness. Reacting automatically, he manifested his replicated Master Sword. Yet, for whatever reason, he didn't drop the skull. He just held onto the both of them as he hesitantly walked back into the main chamber of the crypt. On impulse, the tulpa scanned every inch of the area in an attempt to identify the supposed intruder. Nonetheless, he didn't see anybody and nothing had been disturbed in a way that indicated someone had been behind him. Then again, he did realize a difference in the concentrated strands of evil, which were now floating upward. Plus, when he glanced over at the dimensional ghost, he took notice of how it was staring directly at the ceiling.

Waves of delirium cascaded into every part of his mind. He was excited at the aspect of another encounter, yet positive it had a relation to the curse of the tomb. In his opinion, there was no way another individual just happened to show up almost immediately after opening the last sarcophagus.

Looking up at where Phantom Ganon was staring as well as where the strands of malice were flowing, Dark Link was absolutely astounded to find a ghastly sight. There suspended from the domed ceiling was a horrifically super-sized entity. It resembled that of a muscular person's dismembered and decapitated body; albeit a giant one with rotting flesh. Despite having been belimbed, its disembodied hands worked and magically floated in front of their stumps. Where the being's head had once been, in its place was a glowing red orb seemingly jammed into the gorey gap of the torso's neck. The red sphere was actually an Ocular Parasite. Although it obviously served as a supernatural eyeball, it belonged to a parasitic monster that had possession over the menacing undead form. The body and worm had become inseparable.

"Bongo Bongo-..." Was all that Dark Link managed to say before being interrupted.

Now that the demon had been spotted, it released its grip, swiftly falling from the dome. Using its supernatural disembodied hands, it braced itself as it crashed into all of the sarcophagi, busting all but one of them into pieces. Bongo Bongo's sheer size caused it to hit and slam Phantom Ganon against the wall. Dark Link was only barely spared the same fate because he was far enough inside the secret chamber to not be struck.

Quickly gathering its bearings, before Phantom Ganon could get back up, Bongo Bongo attacked, using its enormous disembodied hands to grab the battered specter, smashing it up against the same spot of wall. The demon then proceeded to dish out a mighty heavy punch, managing to do so several times before the ghost teleported out of its grasp.

Phantom Ganon reappeared just above prior to unleashing an electrified orb, launching it straight at the parasite's glowing red eye.

Bongo Bongo blocked the retaliatory action by holding up one of its severed hands. The magical attack hit, electrocuting the appendage without harming the torso. After that, it was his turn again. Using his other hand, the decapitated demon then formed a fist in advance of giving the dimensional ghost an uppercut with such strength that the brawny specter was sent flying straight up into the ceiling, smacking into as well as cracking the ancient structure.

"Wait!" Dark Link called out for a truce, waving his hands to try and get Bongo Bongo's attention.

Dust and chunks of the ceiling fell alongside the plummeting Phantom Ganon. Although it managed to regain control so it didn't hit the ground, the ghost didn't have enough time to react or make another move prior to being grabbed out of mid-air, thrown against the ground and then repeatedly bashed in a drumming-like motion by both the decapitated entities disembodied hands. The force was so much that the armour it wore began to crumple inward. Even in a state of intense hypnotization, the specter knew it had to take action unless it wanted to be crushed as easily as an empty tin can.

"Stop!" Dark Link continued to yell for their attention. "STOP! WE MEAN YOU NO HARM!" Unfortunately for him, the moment he stepped outside the perimeter of the secret room, he was smacked so hard by one of Bongo Bongo's hands that he flew back prior to impacting the last sarcophagus.

Phantom Ganon teleported again, slipping out of existence in order to get out from underneath the demon's hands. However, this time, instead of appearing merely a few feet above the situation, it flickered into several different locations.

The dimensional ghost's unique tactic succeeded in confusing Bongo Bongo. The demon tried throwing more vicious punches, but each place he flung his fists, Phantom Ganon had already vanished to another position. This caused several of his attacks to miss. One strike broke the remaining tomb in the chamber, the second busted a hole in the wall while the third knocked down another torch, causing burning embers to spill out amongst the floor.

Following the constant teleportation, Phantom Ganon took advantage of the demon's temporary discombobulation. Charging a powerful spell of ball lightning beforehand, as soon as it reappeared directly in front of Bongo Bongo's eye, the specter released the energy with a fervid swing of its arm. Since it was so close, the previously prepared sorcery only had a short distance to go. The electrified orb swiftly traveled through the air in advance of impacting the demon's parasitic eye.

Bongo Bongo immediately reeled back in agony as the lightning spell electrocuted its enormously ghastly torso. Without full control, its hands spasmed too, contorting alongside the seizing body. Its big red eye darted side-to-side until the energy dissipated enough for it to move again.

Phantom Ganon charged up another spell, hoping to be able to do the same thing it had just accomplished. To its dismay, it found itself unable to do so. The moment the specter flew towards the horrific parasitic eyeball, it was caught. Bongo Bongo slapped both of his disembodied hands together like he was catching a fly. Even though, at the last second, the ghost held its arms out to try and stop the attack, the attempt was futile as it promptly got crushed in-between both of the demon's thick palms.

"That's it!" Dark Link stood up, away from the sarcophagus he'd been thrown into. He was growing further enraged that neither beings were listening to him. Coming this far, fighting his way here, the last thing he wanted was for his two potential companions to murder each other. He didn't want either of them to get hurt as they were vital to his grand plan. At first, he was going to run back into the fray, but he wasn't sure how to stop Bongo Bongo without destroying it. Thankfully, even during the heat of the moment, he took notice of the concentrated strands of evil floating away from the scattered skeleton parts toward the demon itself. Seeing this, he suddenly realized that the bones were Bongo Bongo's physical connection to the realm.

"STOP RIGHT NOW!" Dark Link shouted at the top of his lungs before holding up the skull, making well sure that the demon could see it. "IF YOU DON'T, I'LL DESTROY YOUR SKULL AND SEVER YOUR CONNECTION!"

Bongo Bongo kept Phantom Ganon slapped between his palms. Yet, he turned now, slowly, to look at the shadowy doppelganger. Immediately, his eye lowered to the skull in Dark Link's possession. He knew right away that the decapitated remains belonged to him. Although he kept a hold of the dimensional ghost, he was obviously contemplating what to do next as he stayed still, his eye glued to his old head.

Dark Link took this chance to explain. But first, he clarified if the demon could even understand what he was saying. "Can you understand me?" He asked. "If you can, I want you to release my friend. I will make sure it doesn't attack you anymore."

Despite staring for several seconds more as if he did not understand, eventually Bongo Bongo proved that he indeed could understand speech by releasing Phantom Ganon from his grip.

Phantom Ganon fell from Bongo Bongo's hands, about to initiate another attack before it was stopped by its master saying "Enough." After that, the specter seemed to calm down. "Let's have a civil discussion, shall we?"

Bongo Bongo made a strange guttural sound, as if air was escaping from where the parasite had embedded itself into the undead torso. On the other hand, it remained in place, not trying to kill them; this being more evidence of its sapience. More than anything, it was held back by the knowledge that it could still be removed from the realm.

Coming out of the secret room, Dark Link cautiously approached the mighty Bongo Bongo. He kept the demon's skull held tightly, ready at a moment's notice to destroy it if he had to. Fortunately, now that he knew the vile monster could understand hylian words, he decided to lay down some ground rules. "I'm only going to ask you some questions. I know that you don't have a mouth, but there's ways around that. For yes, tap the ground once. For no, tap the ground twice. Do you understand?"

Bongo Bongo slammed his fist into the ground, smashing the tile.

"That's not a tap. But, it'll do." Dark Link chuckled, trying to hide his nervousness. Carrying on, he asked "I'm assuming you're Bongo Bongo right?"

Again, Bongo Bongo slammed his fist into the ground, confirming the query.

"Good…" Dark Link nodded in acknowledgement. "Do you know why we're here?"

This time, Bongo Bongo bashed the ground twice, letting the doppelganger know that he didn't know why they were there.

Hoping to give enough info to persuade, Dark Link informed the demon that "We're not here to hurt you. We came to purposely release you from your otherworldly bondage." Seeing the decapitated entity do nothing more than stare, he assumed it was skeptical of what he was saying. Taking that into consideration, he challenged the notion by suggesting it think of what they had done. "Take a look for yourself. We fought our way here to find you, we uncovered the tombs, released Malphis' hold and allowed you to reconnect with your power." Holding the head up even higher, he pointed out another fact. "If we were here to harm you, we would've destroyed your remains, not allowed them to resurrect you. Actually, none of this would make sense if we were here to hurt you. We just wouldn't have come if that was the case. We would've left you to rot in the underworld."

Bongo Bongo still stared. Unable to speak, all it could do was listen.

"Do you understand?" Dark Link asked.

At first, the belimbed demon hesitated. Obviously it still wasn't a hundred percent sure if it could believe what the shadowy duplicate was saying. Nevertheless, before long, it confirmed that it understood by hitting the ground; much gentler this time.

"We're not here to hurt you..." Dark Link reiterated. "We came to rescue you from your punishment, from Malphis, so that you can join our cause." Seeing how there was no question to be answered, he kept talking. "Just consider what I'm asking. I didn't come here at the request of some foolish goddess or any selfish devil. I came here on my own volition. All I want to do is put an end to this game of life, this lie we've convinced ourselves to be the norm. I want to kill the demons who've tarnished the truth. I want to annihilate the very opposition the divines have been feuding over for eons; the darkness that's eating worlds to giveaway to more darkness. The King of Gerudo, the Hero of Time-... Zelda… Every mortal has been a failure in this transcendental endeavor…" He shook his head before smirking. "But, we're not mortal, are we? You, Phantom Ganon and I… Together we could be the new gods. All we have to do is depose the old gods."

Bongo Bongo's eyes drifted from its bony remains toward Dark Link's face, judging whether or not what the tulpa said was true. It completely understood what it was being told; that wasn't an issue. Its problem was that it didn't entirely care for the idea of lending its assistance. None of its internal thoughts were directed at the future. The undead nightmare was concerned only for the here and now, wanting to retrieve its body, to fully break the curse stopping it from reincarnating into the form it held long ago, when it was alive.

"I know about you…" Dark Link suddenly continued, having seen the skeptication in the demon. "You might not know who I am, but I know who you are." Seeing a peak in interest after saying that, he nodded in confirmation. "You were Lord Bonzo. Not only were you the creator of the Lens of Truth, you were the most powerful sheikah to ever have existed. The bongos you used could subdue people, to calm their mind."

Bongo Bongo was definitely intrigued by the mention of its past life. Although it didn't have a head, it cocked its neck to the side as if to say that it was listening, to keep talking.

Dark Link understood the body-language, continuing with what he was saying. "Your contributions rewarded you with your own army, your own manor, your own treasury-... Except, decades of using the Lens of Truth caused you to see how wicked people truly were, so you turned away from society. You locked yourself away in your mansion and toiled away at unlocking the deepest level of magic, beyond that which even the ancients were capable of harnessing. You wanted to fix the world." Stopping for a moment, he looked away before saying "But it wasn't enough. Your physical form couldn't obtain the energy needed to use such complex sorcery, so you turned to witchcraft. You struck a deal with a devil who offered you all his abilities in exchange for living inside your body, like a parasite."

Narrowing its big red eye, Bongo Bongo raised both hands. However, instead of attacking, it merely clapped them together as if to gleefully confirm what it was hearing.

"When you returned to society, they called you the Dancer of Death. Suddenly, you could use your bongos to manipulate people into doing anything, actions far beyond what they would normally do. You were no longer bending their will, you were stealing it. With your bongos, you could make them dance until they dropped dead, you could control animals, you could force them to fight for you. I even know how you used your powers to make The King of Hyrule willingly hand over every rupee he had." For a split second, Dark Link felt jealous. He would've greatly enjoyed having such an overpowered ability and certainly wouldn't have squandered it like Lord Bonzo did. "You invited all your political rivals to an armistice, then during the meal, you forced them all to slit their own throats with their dinner knives."

Now that the demon was listening, Dark Link dove deeper into the conversation. "That was the beginning of your end, wasn't it?" He asked a difficult question without waiting for an answer. "Six diplomats from neighboring nations never returned and their people knew you were the last place they were seen. It didn't take long for others to realize something more was going on, that you weren't using regular magic or some supernatural eloquence to get your way. They knew you were dabbling with evil and decided to take action before you conquered the whole world."

"It must've been awful." The tulpa seemingly took pity on the entity. "You were trying to kill bad people, trying to build a bottomless gold coffer, you even struck a hell of a bargain with a devil so you could have enough power to eliminate those you deemed evil." He snorted sarcastically. "The hundreds of people you killed? They were all bad. People just couldn't understand that. Even the smallest infraction meant they were impure and had to be eliminated. They were nothing compared to the trillions of lives taken by the world-eater's hatred of the Plexal Plane. But, again, they couldn't understand."

Bongo Bongo hung low, expressing sadness. Hearing of its failures brought forth regret for its inability to achieve what it had so desired.

"Instead of helping, they hindered you. The masses, the Royal Family, the sheikah, they were all out to get you because they thought you were the bad guy. They thought the devil you'd bargained with had overtaken your soul." Returning his gaze to the belimbed, decapitated demon, he said "That's why they burned down your mansion, 'liberated' your army and stole your money. Worse of all, they executed you. They murdered you for all of your hard work."

Now, Bongo Bongo began getting frustrated. His disembodied fists tightened in rage.

"When you came back, they killed you again and again." Dark Link reminded the demon. "They killed you several times until you woke up in this accursed place. Your sheikah brothers and sisters had you drawn and quartered, then cut your head off while you laid writhing in the dirt. Afterward, to prevent your reincarnation, they made a deal of their own with a more powerful devil, Malphis. Your own race made the 'concordant' that banished you to the afterlife." Adding to the pain of memories, he went as far as to say "They hated you so much, they erased you from existence. Even your greatest invention was buried and lost to time."

Bongo Bongo was visibly shaking with fury regarding the past events. His severed hands balled into fists and violently slammed against the broken ground over and over until a hole formed.

"But, I freed you-..." Dark Link made sure the demon understood. "I freed you from your bondage. So, if you help me achieve my goals, if you help me defeat the world-eater and his darkness, I'll make sure we seek vengeance on those who did this to you." He walked forward, stepping closer to Bongo Bongo. "It doesn't matter how many of your brethren are still alive. If they're dead, we'll just haunt their children. We'll set the record straight. Your name will be cleared and you'll hold merit again. Best of all, everyone will know how wrong their ancestors were."

Upon witnessing Dark Link's approach, Bongo Bongo tentatively held out his left hand. The tulpa came closer and then gently laid the skull in the palm of the demon's hand. He did it as a sign of the trust they could have in one another.

"What do you think?" To further entice the demon toward the deal, now that he had free hands, Dark Link reminded it of another possible reward if it did decide to help. He held up his arms and then manifested a replica of a particular item; a magical purple magnifying glass. The top of its frame had three small red pointed knobs, in the center of the convex lens was a red vertical slit like a cat's pupil and on the bottom of the frame was a horizontal red oval; these stylized the object to resemble the traditional Sheikah Eye. Both of them knew what it was. It was the Lens of Truth. "I'll even do everything within my power to return your invention to you."