"Link!" Saria yelled as she knocked against the closed lid of the box she was trapped in.
"Saria!" Link shouted as he ran from box to box. "I'll get you out of there, just a minute!"
"What's taking you so long, Link?" Ukyo shouted. "Just open all of the goddamn boxes!"
"It's not that easy," Navi explained. "Who knows what kind of traps that Poe had installed in them?"
In that moment, Link had to dodge a ghastly Floormaster that suddenly reached out of an opened box.
"Indeed," Tsubasa grinned. "Just take your time, hero... you don't want to make a decision that brings you all in danger, do you?"
"Shut up, you coward!" Ukyo yelled and waved her spatula up to the pink-clad spirit, who was floating underneath the ceiling, where he was safe. "Aw, heck, I'm getting sick of this!"
She marcher over to one of the three remaining boxes and opened the lid.
She peered inside... it was empty. She blinked. "Huh? What the..."
Suddenly a sharp click caught her attention. "Hey, what was that?"
"Ukyo!" Tatl gasped as she looked up. "The ceiling..."
"It's coming down..." Tael whimpered. "We're done for!"
"Oh, that's just great!" Tatl sighed. "Only a Poe could have thought of such a plan..."
"Ingenious, isn't it?" Tsubasa grinned. "As I am incorporeal, the descending ceiling won't hurt me... I will just pass right through it. But as for you... I'm afraid you won't have the same advantage... You'll be squashed like pancakes!"
"Link, do something!" Ukyo screamed. "I hate pancakes!"
The Hero of Time nervously looked back and forth between the two remaining boxes. Which one should he choose? He looked up to the ceiling... he had only 30 seconds left, at the most!
"Link!" Saria shouted. "Please... I know you can do it! Make your choice, I trust you!"
Link furrowed his brows. "All right then..." he murmured. "Here goes nothing..."
And with a loud yell, he ran over to the nearest box... ran past it and opened the lid of the box that was in the farthest corner of the room.
Saria gasped when suddenly, Link's concerned face appeared above her.
Ukyo winced when the ceiling stopped just above her head. Slowly, it rose back again, where it belonged.
"Aw, poo!" The ghost pouted. "No fair winning!"
"That was a dirty trick!" Ukyo snapped.
Tsubasa shrugged. "Hey, I'm just doing my job..."
"Say, if Saria is so important to you guys, why were you willing to sacrifice her at all?" Tatl suddenly asked.
The Poe grinned. "I didn't! A hidden spell that has been put on her box would have transported her directly to the inner sanctum, where my mistress would have awaited her."
"You dirty little..." the blonde fairy grumbled.
"Now calm down, sis, think of your blood pressure..."
Link helped Saria climbing out of the box. Then the two friends stood in front of each other.
Saria smiled as she looked up at his handsome face. "You're a bit bigger than I remember..."
Link chuckled. "Yeah, well... It is strange to look down at you. But you still look the same..."
"Ah, how corny can you get?" Tsubasa muttered. "You don't mind if I retch?"
Link shot him a dark glare. "The game's over, Poe! Saria is free and your torch is ours." He gestured at the final box. "If you don't mind, I'll just take it..."
"No!" Tsubasa screamed as he dove for the chest in the same instance as Link approached it. "Lady Veran will punish me..."
He turned invisible and dove right through the box's wall... and Link simply slashed out with his sword, which cut right through the box.
With a loud clatter, the two halves of the box fell apart... and the torch was standing in front of them, attached to a small post.
Tsubasa was crouching on the ground... and his dress had been ripped by Link's sword.
Ukyo, Link, Saria and the fairies looked at him in surprise.
"What are you staring at?" Tsubasa asked in a voice that was clearly masculine. "Never seen a boy ghost before?"
"You are... a guy?" Ukyo muttered in surprise.
Tsubasa grimaced. "I never said I wasn't!"
Navi blinked. "But... but your voice... it sounded just like a girl's!"
"Well, I AM the master of disguise..."
Ukyo sighed. "Whatever... Link, just finish this freak already and let's get out of here!"
Link looked at the cowering, crossdressing Poe... and sheathed his sword.
"Wh-what are you doing?" Tsubasa muttered.
"I have won, Saria is safe and the torch is ours. So why should I kill you? If you promise never to show your face in my presence again, you can leave!"
"Just like that?" Tsubasa asked. "What kind of monster slayer are you?"
"I'm not a monster slayer," Link replied. "I am the Hero of Time! I didn't kill the other two ghosts either."
"I'm still not happy with what you did," a muffled voice came out of his pocket.
Tsubasa closed his eyes and chuckled. "Elder Cologne really was right..." he mumbled. "No living being will ever be able to predict how a person's heart is working..."
And he simply vanished through the floor.
Ukyo sighed. "Well, good riddance..." She walked over the torch and took it from its post. The green flame from the torch disappeared and reappeared on the torch standing next to the door.
"Well, only one missing!" Tatl noted.
"LINK!!"
Ukyo turned around in surprise and saw how Saria was clinging to Link's legs.
The green-haired girl sobbed. "I have been waiting for you... for so many years, I have waited. The other Kokiri all said you would never come back... but I always believed in you! I knew you'd come back one day! And now, here you are..." She sniffed. "And I can't even look into your eyes without looking up..."
Link knelt down and gave her a gentle hug. "I... I am sorry, Saria," he whispered. "I never planned to stay away for such a long time... And these seven years... they felt just like a second to me. Just because I touched that... that sword... Ganondorf was able to touch the Triforce... Hyrule is in ruins... and I couldn't be here when you were attacked!"
He closed his eyes. "Forgive me, Saria..."
A sudden bolt of black lightning appeared on the other side of the room and startled them.
A pale-faced woman with black robes appeared inside the lightning. "Well, isn't this scene touching?" she sneered. "The Hero of Time and the Sage of the Forest... so close, and yet doomed to live without the other. A Hylian who never knew of his heritage... and a Kokiri who will never leave this temple again!"
Link gasped. "A... a Hylian? Me?"
"Of course we are Hylians!" Ukyo shouted. "I knew my father brought me into the forest when I was a kid, something similar must have happened to you. Or why do you think you are grown up after seven years?"
"Who's that ugly witch anyway?" Tatl frowned.
"Mind your mouth, you pesky little bug!" Veran snapped. "I am Veran, Sorceress of Shadows, and servant of the Great Ganondorf!"
"So, you are the boss of those Poes?" Link asked. "Heh... maybe you should have looked for better personnel. We already got three of the four torches."
Veran shrugged. "That was just a delay to keep you busy until the Phantom is finished with his preparations for the ritual... as long as they are complete when you reach the lower floor, all is well."
"Ritual?" Ukyo asked. "What ritual?"
Veran grinned. "The sacrifice... of the Forest Sage!"
"Saria!" Link understood and stepped in front of his childhood friend. "I won't let you have her!"
"Don't bother, 'hero', we already have this temple under our control," the sorceress grinned and snapped her fingers. A shadow suddenly appeared above Saria and she never had the chance to even gasp when the Wallmaster came dropping down from the ceiling, pulling her upwards and dropping her into the arms of its dark mistress.
"Let her go, you witch!"
Veran laughed. "While we are speaking, my lord's servants are spreading all over Hyrule, contaminating all of the temples in Ganondorf's name... and as soon as the Sages and the Hero of Time are dead, even the Temple of Light will fall... and the remaining pieces of the Triforce will reveal themselves!"
In another black bolt of magical lightning, the sorceress and her prey vanished.
"Dammit!" Link threw his shield to the floor in anger. "I lost her again..."
"We won't let that bitch..."
"SIS!!"
Tatl grimaced. "That witch get away with it! After all, we know where she has taken her."
"Yeah," Ukyo nodded. "All we need is the remaining torch, and we'll be able to reach the lower level."
"But... but what if we won't make it in time..." Link gritted his teeth.
"We certainly won't make it if you don't stop moping and hurry up! We have a Poe to find!"
Link took a deep breath. "You're right, Ukyo..." he muttered. "Saria... I won't let you down again! I will save you!"
He picked up his shield and ran ahead of his friends. Ukyo followed, and the three fairies flew above them.
It was time to free the Forest Temple from all evil... once and for all!
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(Posted Wed, 08 Aug 2007 22:14)
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