With worry, Konatsu was sitting within his cage. Right after he allowed Saria to escape, Phantom Ganon had shocked him with some magic lightning, to 'let off some steam', as he put it. Afterwards, he left the room in a hurry to catch the supposedly Sage of the Forest.
Konatsu winced when he remembered being hit with that blast. Luckily, his wooden body made him somewhat resistant against lightning-based attacks.
It still hurt like hell, though.
"Well, at least I didn't fall unconscious this time," the ninja murmured, recalling the last time when Veran blasted him with a similar spell.
Now how to get out of this place?
He closely inspected the padlock of his cage. "Doesn't look too remarkable," he said. "Ganondorf seems to save costs when providing his servants with equipment..."
On the other hand, he had to admit, Phantom Ganon and Veran were proficient magic users, so maybe they simply did not need too fancy equipment to get the job done. And any normal Deku would certainly have a hard time to break free from this cage.
But as we all know, Konatsu was no such Deku. He fell under the category of 'Deku Ninjas'.
Carefully extending one of his branch-like, thin fingers (which most Dekus normally kept retracted, to keep them from breaking) and slipped it into the small opening of the padlock.
"Let's see..." he murmured. "From the looks of this thing, unlocking it shouldn't take too much time... Hopefully enough to distract that Phantom and his men from Saria."
Finally, the padlock gave off a small 'click' and opened. Satisfied, Konatsu nodded and pulled his finger out of the padlock. He then opened the cage and jumped down to the floor.
As he ran out of the room, his shape became a blur that seemed to merge with the shadows and the vines that were covering the temple's walls.
"They took me by surprise once..." he grumbled. "They won't be able to do it again!"
----
Saria panted as she reached a strange, circular room. The color of the floor was alternating between red and blue. Strange wall-like protrusions were coming out of the room's wall itself, and there were several openings in the wall, several ons leading to small chambers, others just ending at a blank wall.
For a moment, she tried to understand the weird concept of this room, but she realized she had no time, Phantom Ganon already had to be on her trail.
She noticed a wooden structure in the middle of the room, looking almost like some sort of cabin.
Saria was no fool, unlike other Kokiri, she had always been interested to hear more about the world outside of the forest, and back when he had still been alive, the Deku Tree had told her much about the Hylians and their habit of constructing not only houses, but also weapons, tools and devices.
That's the reason why it didn't take long for her to figure out that this cabin had to be some sort of elevator... even if she could not see any ropes, wires or other contraptions that were supposed to make it work. But she could see a small shaft in the middle of the ceiling, of the exact same size as the cabin itself. Maybe it operated with magic?
"Only one way to find out," she muttered and was just going to step in.
But then, the door behind her flew open and a tall, armored figured entered the room. Phantom Ganon looked at her with a steely glaze.
"I suggest you surrender peacefully, so I don't have to harm you unnecessarily..."
"Is that supposed to be some sort of joke?" Saria frowned. "You are planning to kill me either way."
The Phantom smirked. "Good point! But believe me, there are many different ways to end a person's life. I can make your death quick and harmless, if you wish..."
He then narrowed his eyes. "But if you continue to anger me, you should know that I can also kill you in a slow, very painful way! It's your choice!"
"Thank you!" Saria said back. "But I don't plan to die today. Have a nice day!"
And she stepped towards the elevator.
----
One level above them, four shimmering, female figures were floating next to four torches with colorful flames.
"All right, girls, here they come!" Asuka sneered. "Remember what Lady Veran said: Take the flames and don't let them lay their hands on them!"
And when a surprised duo of green-clothed teenagers entered the room, followed by two small fairies, each Poe Sister snatched away the flame with a small, portable torch they were holding.
"I got it!" Mariko cheered as she took the blue flame. "Onox-sempai would be so proud of me!"
"What's going on here?" Ukyo asked in confusion. "What are you doing?"
Tsubasa grinned. "Watch closely, you dummies!" the undead cross-dresser said as he flew away with the red flame.
"You'll never make it down to the lower level... not until you catch us all!" Asuka laughed, taking the purple flame with her.
"Bye-bye!" Azusa waved and vanished through a wall... taking the pink flame with her.
"See that?" Navi gasped. "The elevator in the middle of the room won't work until we get those flames back to the torches!"
"Well, how are we supposed to do that?" Link asked in annoyance. "They just took off with them."
"Well, you heard what they said, right?" Tatl grinned. "Gotta catch 'em all!"
----
Saria nearly fell down on her face, when suddenly the elevator moved upwards. "Wh-what?"
Phantom Ganon laughed. "I see the Poes have done their job well! Now no one will be able to go up OR down that shaft. You're trapped, little girl!"
"B-but that means you are trapped in her as well!"
The Phantom laughed. "Oh, please! Don't you think I haven't thought of that? My master gave me the ability to create portals of darkness, taking me wherever I want to go."
That reminded Saria of something. "Only if you have been there before, right?"
"Maybe, but who cares? It's definitely enough to get out of these rooms... but I think I'll stay here for a while. The sacrifice of the sage still has to be done, and I also fear that those two heroes might be able to hunt down all of the Poe Sisters after all. Still, it buys me some time to complete me real trap for them!"
He reached out for her. "Now come here, you..."
"S-stay away from me..." Saria winced.
Suddenly, something hard hit Phantom Ganon at the back of his head. "Who dares...?"
He turned around, and to his surprise, he saw Konatsu clinging to the ceiling of the room.
"I won't let you lay your hands on my friends anymore!" the little ninja said with determination.
Phantom Ganon growled and raised his right hand. He gathered magical energy and created another ball of crackling electricity. "You still haven't had enough? I still have much more where that first blast came from!"
He threw his magical projectile at the Deku, but Konatsu used his agility to easily dodge it.
"Try hitting a moving ninja," he said. "I'm not trapped inside that cage anymore, you know?"
"Accursed little scrub..." the Phantom grumbled. "When I lay my hands on you..." He turned around and stretched out his hand. Using his magic, he closed the door, the only exit of the room. He then turned back to his two enemies and grinned. "Face it, you two are trapped in here like rats!"
"You think so?" Konatsu asked. He had seen Saria use her spell to escape the previous room, he hoped she could do it again. He looked down at her. "Hurry, I'll buy you some time!"
"B-but what about you?"
"Try to find Ukyo and Link! If they really are in here, you have to find them! Find a way to activate that elevator!"
"O-okay..." she stammered. "You can count on me!"
"Don't you dare!" Phantom Ganon shouted as he saw the green-haired girl lift her hands.
Saria looked at his face calmly. "I won't let you capture me again! Farore's Wind!"
Hearing the plea of her troubled Sage, Farore listened and gave Saria the power to escape the temple's basement.
When the green light that transported her away had faded, Phantom Ganon snarled angrily. "How did she do that? She has never used magic before in her life... How could she...?"
"You know what they say," Konatsu smirked. "The Temple is the Sage's second home... and her home is her castle! I figure you will have a hard time tracking her down in these walls."
"You insolent little Deku..." Phantom Ganon grumbled as he gathered more energy within his hands. "When I'm finished with you..."
"Try to hit me!" the ninja laughed and jumped away, just as the evil clone of Ganon threw his attack.
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(Posted Fri, 18 May 2007 12:05)
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