Fan Fiction ❯ Harry Potter and the Hero of Time ❯ A Shocking Revelation ( Chapter 13 )

Chapter 13-A Shocking Revelation

The two masks in question were the All-Night Mask and the Couple's Mask left in Link's care by Anju and Kafei. Link placed them into the bag that once held all twenty-four masks and stepped up the stairs. Darmani and Link of the Gorons awaited him at the top, eager to complete the portion from the Snowhead Temple. Link gave the young Goron a pair of huge wax earplugs to prevent him from hearing the Goron Lullaby should its use become necessary. That point soon became moot, as seven Freezards and eight White Wolfos appeared in the chamber ahead.

"What, no giant Eeno? Darmani to the left; my namesake to the right. I'll sweep down the middle and let you two take care of the rest. Remember, this is not a mining expedition!"

Darmani knew how to fight, and the little Goron had received some training. They punched away at their foes as only Gorons could, charging their fists with flame to melt the ice. When the White Wolfos attacked, Link and the Gorons soon hit the soft backsides of the carnivorous canines. The door ahead opened, leading the trio into the next chamber. The main obstacle of the chamber was a gigantic mountain goat made of metal trapped in a block of ice and shielded by two huge stalactites stuck in the floor.

"That's Goht," Link said. "Stand back, please." Link took out a Fire Arrow and let it fly into the ice, thawing out the mechanical monster and freeing it once more. Goht roared, shattering the stalactites, and then began hurtling around the chamber at top speed. Link stood in the alcove and sent the Gorons curling, hoping they would remember to grab the jars of Magic Potion scattered around the circular arena.

Darmani went after the monster directly, and Link son of Darunia went the other way. When both had built up enough speed, they revealed their Goron spikes, weapons they could use to chop up grass, Chuchu, and other soft creatures. Darmani and the kid could also use spikes to penetrate the metal armor of monsters such as Goht. The downside was that it drained magic at a fast pace and the Gorons forgot to drink Chateau Romani before they entered the portal. Darmani and Link son of Darunia knew to roll into the jars of Magic Potion around the arena, though, if they wanted to keep going at top speed.

At each pass, the two Gorons hit Goht with their spikes and went around the arena for another go. Goht kept moving, though, and it soon began kicking up rubble and dropping stalactites with its charge. Darmani knew that Goht had an electric attack and the ability to spew Bombs from its hindquarters, making his job harder. Goht soon paused at the top of one of the slopes and unleashed a new attack, a roar that made the Gorons cover their ears in pain. The younger Goron put on the wax earplugs and continued fighting, showing great presence of mind.

When the kid kept going, Link made another pair of earplugs for Darmani with some wax and another wire he had in his stuff. When Darmani hit Goht, the monster roared in pain and ploughed into a wall, cracking the opposite tunnel and lifting one portcullis from the outer wall. The Gorons went back to the rest of the party by tunneling through the rocks. The chamber past the portcullis contained seven Zora Eggs in an aquarium full of specially prepared water

"They're just about to be born," Lulu said. "Come on, everyone, let's watch them!" The Indigo-go's and Mr. Toto, their manager, joined Link in the laboratory chamber, their eyes watching the eggs in delight. Zora Eggs hatch only three days after their mother lays them, and the water has to be at just the right temperature or the babies will die. Zora babies look like tadpoles in form, but have the scaly skin of Zora. They grow their legs by the time they are five years old. Zora grow their arms about five years later, and live about a thousand years in some cases.

The eggs began to pulse with a blue-white light and float upward. The outer layer of cytoplasm soon fell away and the babies emerged, with tails that moved them upward to eye level. The babies then arranged themselves into the form of the New Wave Bossa Nova, which is recorded on the next page. Link and Mikau remembered this song from their adventures 2 years and 4 months earlier in Terminian time. Lulu remembered that her mother sang this song to her as a baby, and it had strange powers.

Everyone had their instruments in the chamber, resting on a giant seashell, and Link had the Ocarina of Time in his equipment. They played the melody three times through, and then a door out of the chamber opened. Link knew that Princess Ruto liked guitar music, and Mikau was the best guitarist in Termina, with the possible exception of Japas, his partner in the band. Lulu, Evan, Japas, Tijo, and Toto went back to the party in a portal of blue light in the chamber. Mikau slung his guitar over his shoulder and followed Link into the next chamber.

The room had a pool of water covering much of the floor. In the water swam such monsters as Shell Blades, extremely annoying scallops; Desbrekos, giant skeletal fish; and Skull Fish, smaller forms of the Desbrekos. Mikau took out the monsters with the Barrier Attack while Link studied the surface of the chamber. There was a red valve on the chamber with water flowing into it, and an outtake valve that could reveal a geyser platform. Link froze the water with Ice Arrows to make a series of platforms and hopped across them to the valve.

Link pushed the valve while Mikau hit a crystal switch. The valve panel went counterclockwise a quarter turn and then sank into the surface of the device. Mikau porpoise jumped onto the platform and followed Link across the geyser to the door. It was marked with the sign of a fish-the mark of Gyorg, the evil fish the Giant of Great Bay had been transformed into by Majora's Mask. Link and Mikau stood on an octagonal platform as the door dematerialized behind them. The water had seaweed and coral growing in it, seemingly calm-for now.

The water soon began to ripple as a huge fish awakened from slumber. It circled the platform, eyeing its two foes, and then gathered speed for a leap. Link and Mikau turned just in time to see Gyorg, a gargantuan masked fish, leap over the platform. As it sped into the water, Mikau leaped in after it and gathered energy for a Barrier Attack. He sped around the fish, waiting for Link to peg its eye with an Arrow, which he did, striking the soft flesh with ease. Mikau ploughed into the fish with the Barrier Attack, sending electricity coursing through Gyorg.

After the fish recovered, Mikau swam out of there at top speed. Gyorg was angry when injured, and very hungry, capable of chewing up even a blubbery mass like King Zora XVI with ease. Link pegged Gyorg again after Mikau escaped, and kept it down with more projectiles so Mikau had an easy time hurting the fish again. After Gyorg awoke, it moved faster than Mikau could block and clamped its huge jaws about him.

"Mikau," Japas shouted. "Get out of there, man!" Japas did not need to worry, for Mikau soon squirmed out of the fish's mouth and retaliated with an extended dose of Barrier Attack, stunning him and deal damage. Gyorg then moved back and exhaled its children, little piranhas that were even hungrier than their parent was. Mikau dodged their little fangs and kept up attacking Gyorg whenever Link managed to stun the beast with his Arrows. After about five more minutes, Gyorg screeched in pain and flopped onto the platform.

However, Gyorg did not flop about and die as it did in the Great Bay Temple. It instead dissolved in a cloud of smoke to reveal a monster that looked like a Zora, but obviously wasn't one. This thing had magenta scales and luminous yellow-green eyes, for one thing. It bore a trident strapped to its back and wore studded leather armor over its muscular body.

"Now that is what I call ugly," said Ruto. "That neo-Gyorg monster looks even nastier than the original one, and I can tell that Mikau has his work cut out for him."
"What about Link," Zelda asked.

"Zelda, your husband-my onetime fiancée, before we found out we couldn't mate-could chop that thing to ribbons in a minute, but he won't. This is Mikau's battle, and Link knows better than to interfere." Sure enough, Link stayed on the platform while neo-Gyorg jumped into the water. Mikau blocked with his elbow-fins, and the monster tried to stick him with the trident. The monster was quick, for one thing, and could move gracefully for all of its ponderous bulk. Mikau swam away from it and then charged it with the Zora Barrier fully charged, taking just enough time to snag a jar of Magic Potion from a corner of the room.

The monster was ready this time, creating a barrier of its own, only magenta. Mikau grabbed the trident away from the creature while it stood on the floor cackling and tossed it to Link. The Hylian caught it and slashed it to ribbons with the Master Sword, ending its foul existence. Link then began to play a song Sheik, or Zelda in the Sheik disguise, taught him in the Ice Cavern at the north end of Zora's Fountain. The Serenade of Water pierced neo-Gyorg where the Zora Barrier could not.

While the monster floundered, Mikau dove above and pinned him to the floor with his strong, thin arms. The monster screeched in pain and fought to break the hold, but in vain, since Mikau let it stand up and then sliced it apart with the Boomerang Attack. Zora have the ability to launch their elbow-fins as boomerangs in some cases, and Mikau could hit anything with his version of the attack. Gyorg turned into a being of blue light and exploded. Link looked into the bag of masks and found that he now had ten-those he had given up to the children bearing the Goht's Remains Mask and Gyorg's Remains Mask on the Moon.

Mikau swam through a tunnel and rejoined the party. Link could deal with the monsters ahead, whatever they may be, but the next floor was a reproduction of the Sakon's Hideout entrance. Kafei went in by sidestepping through the crack next to the entrance, something he could have done a long time ago, had he known at the time. Link followed his friend in and entered the second chamber. Inside the room, there was an amulet on the platform inside the glass cage.

"What do you suppose that is," Kafei asked as he stepped onto the blue switch. "Well, whatever it is, the conveyor is starting to take it away. I think we know what to do."

"You go on ahead. I'll hold the door open till you open my door." Kafei nodded and entered the door on the right, which had several blocks in it that had the mark of Majora's Mask on it. He pushed one onto a switch amid the blocks and waited for Link to enter the next chamber. Link ran ahead and soon found himself facing a Big Deku Baba, one of the monsters that had once haunted Kokiri Forest. He sliced it twice, and it died, leaving behind fifteen Deku Nuts.

Kafei ran into the next chamber and found a mixture of red and yellow switches. He avoided the red ones-which sped up the conveyor, and hit a yellow switch before tagging the blue switch in the corner. Link took on two more Big Deku Babas and opened the door for Kafei. The twenty-year-old Terminian pushed the blocks until he could secure a block on the yellow switch. Kafei then pushed a block onto the blue switch and opened the door for Link.

Link was now up against a pair of Wolfos, hideous wolf monsters with eerie green eyes-not green irises-solid green, with yellow in the center. He used the Spin Attack and took the canines out before they could hope to react. Kafei entered the final chamber and hit the switch, allowing Link to run forward and stop the conveyor belt. Kafei grabbed the amulet and exited through a side door, giving it to William.

"I don't want any magical devices, thanks. That experience with Majora's Mask has made me not want to handle any magical artifacts at all."

"Perfectly understandable, Kafei," replied William as he took the amulet and cradled it. "Now that I have both amulets, I think I have a way to get Drakan off of this planet permanently."

"What do the amulets have to do with anything," Raistlin asked. "They do not seem to contain much magic at all, William."

"These amulets can conceal their true abilities until the time is right. The two amulets have the ability to hold magical portals open for extended periods when both are together. For example, placing them near a Portal to the Abyss holds it open for up to an hour after the Black Robe and holy cleric enter. Sakon stole the second amulet from me three months ago, and took it to Drakan. The thief was rewarded for his loyalty by being killed."

"Nobody deserves that fate," said Kafei, shuddering, "not even a lowlife like Sakon."

"That was the thief who stole the Sun's Mask from you, honey?"

"Yes he was, Anju, but thanks to Link, I got it back in time."

"Link is getting stronger and smarter with every battle," Mido observed. "I am indeed impressed with him, and I hope he doesn't let the power go to his head."

"Link doesn't have that much of an ego," said Harry. "He just does what he has to do and doesn't mind getting stronger. Link realizes that getting stronger is not everything and cares more about his friends and wife. I'm glad to know him, and glad that he is getting stronger, for Hyrule's own good."

Link had then entered a circular door beside his final switch and entered a vast throne room. As he strode forward, the curtains began to lower and a hideous voice intoned:

"Oh insolent one who has brought the unthinkable into a land as dark as Elsewhere… My servants have fallen namelessly before the light that guides you… But the darkness in which my servants live is, after all, fleeting. We shall just have to show you, then, what sort of thing true darkness is."

As the voice said this, three skeletons appeared opposite the door Link entered. One of them was quite tall and sat on a throne studded with jewels. The second was tall, but thin and lanky, bearing a sword and shield. The third also had a sword and shield, but he was shorter and more compact. Link recognized them from his Terminian adventure-King Igos du Ikana and his two guards, Olzok and Alberic. Olzok was the tall, lanky guard and Alberic was shorter and fatter, but both were fierce undead swordsmen and did not like sunlight.

While the skeletons advanced on him, Link shot one of the curtains with a Fire Arrow. Igos stood and took note of this, but then sat down to watch the battle. Link knew that to beat the skeletons he would have to make them crumble into bones and then shine sunlight onto the bones. Olzok went on the offensive first, thrusting at Link and moving his sword upward. Link parried and stabbed the monster in the ribs.

Alberic advanced next, but Link hit that one with a leaping vertical slash, crumbling him. Before Olzok could advance, the Hylian had burnt the second curtain. Igos dropped his jaw in shock, but reattached it quickly and turned back to the battle. Alberic had been hit with the reflected sunlight by the Mirror Shield and dissolved in a cloud of cyan smoke. Olzok tried to strike back, but Link hit him and melted him with sunlight from the second square he revealed.

Igos then stood up and advanced on Link without summoning his sword and shield.

"You are a brave young man," the skeleton said. "The light you bear has grown brighter since last we met in Termina."

"I'm glad that you remember me, Your Majesty," replied Link, bowing out of respect. "The Elegy of Emptiness you taught me came in handy when I scaled and conquered Stone Tower and its temple."

"I am glad indeed to hear it," said the king. "Captain Keeta gave you his hat of power when you beat him in combat-that he told me after our battle. Go, hero, and stop Drakan. Then will my soul be at peace." Link bowed again and entered the round door behind the throne, finding himself inside a chamber reminiscent of the Stone Tower Temple. A cloud of black Bad Bats-outdoor mundane cousins of Keeses-flew about the chamber and circled the center.

As the Bad Bats circled, a black figure bearing a huge scythe rose from the floor. Link knew about Gomess, the Grim Reaper of Termina, and knew his weakness. The monster was cloaked in bats, but a quick Light Arrow would disperse them long enough for Link to strike. When Link stabbed, he went to the side as Gomess charged him, whirling the scythe in a circle in front of him.

The battle went on for what felt like a few minutes, but Gomess never stood a chance. Link stabbed the green orb at his foe's core ten times, defeating the monster. The green orb dropped to the ground as the Bad Bats and scythe fell and dissolved. A door painted with a strange yellow mark now stood open, leading Link into a desert arena. When Link entered the door, the stone dissolved into sand and the ground began to rumble.

"Link is almost strong enough to transform," Alzeroth said. Everyone in the balcony stared at him, shocked at this pronouncement. Nobody could believe it.