Chapter 13
We find a path out of the cave and find ourselves on the mountain peak. On the other side of the peak is a massive monster sitting next to a frozen tree. We slowly walk up to it and it turns towards us, he looks very similar to the picture Ashei drew.
"Uh! Whoa - ho! I heard ruckus, an uh! Just a Hylian! I see Hylians not often, uh? Why Hylians come to snow's?" he asked us, I was surprised that the monster could speak our language and then I notice the large reek fish in his hand. "You... on special journey? You look for true self?" he asked,
"Yes..." Link said as the Yeti laughs
"That was joke. Yes is joke to, uh. You look for something else, uh? Tell truth."
"We're looking for a broken mirror piece." Link said,
"...Uh, you look for mirror in such faraway place... why not say so before? But you make good climb! And you lucky to meet me! I found shiny mirror piece."
"Really?" I asked,
"Name Yeto, You come to house and see yourself! I caught fish. I make you hot meal, at least... My house far away... We slide there, uh? Do like me! Come!" He hits the tree next to him and a piece of Ice the size of his foot falls off of his tree and he stands on top of the ice and slides down the hill.
"Yep... We're gonna die..." I said rubbing my shoulders trying to keep myself warm. Link strikes the tree with his foot and another large piece of ice falls and we walk over to the ice, this will be like snowboarding.
"We'll be alright," He said helping me onto the ice than stepping on, I grab his waist, "Hold tight." he said as we head down," It was not as difficult as I thought it was going to be, Link and I move together to turn and made it down the hill to a long stone bridge, the Ice breaks underneath the hard surface and we make it to a large mansion, Midna appears next to us.
"Here? What's with this guy? He's got a nice place... for a beast man." We walk up and enter the large house the front room was massive but the entire place looks like it's falling apart, there's even a large hole in the roof and snow was falling in and some of the floor was covered in Ice.
"I won't be getting warm anytime soon..." I pout, usually it doesn't take me this long to warm up, and I can't stop shivering,
"Are you alright?" Link asked,
"Yeah... just cold..." I said as I start to feel dizzy and stumble,
"Hey!" Link yells and he catches me, He leans close to my face and presses his forehead against mine, "You're burning up!" He said,
"Must have gotten sick... I'll be fine." I said as Link picks me up." What are you doing?" I struggle,
"You can barely stand, just let me do this." he said... I blush and nod my head... he's acting like he did when he found out we'd be separated... but being held against his chest felt warm... He carries me into the next room where there's a lady wrapped up tightly sitting next to a fire.
"Who?" She coughs, "Sorry... I have sickness, uh..." The way she talks she must also be a yeti. "Come closer, uh?" she said and we walk up, she's taller than we are and she's sitting down. "Aw, cute Hylian looks unwell too, sit next to fire." she said as Link lies me down and finds a blanket and wraps me in it. "Husband told me you come, you want to look at mirror, uh?"
"Yes, ma'am," Link said,
"I Yeta, My husband find it, but it pretty thing, uh. But... since I got mirror, I got sick, and then bad monsters appear... So many bad things happen since mirror... so we lock bedroom on third floor where is hang, uh? I'll tell you where key is... and Hylian girl rest here." she said,
"Thank you. I appreciate that." Link said and she hands him a map of the castle grounds and he walks over near the fireplace and lies me down. He grabs one of the blankets lying on the broken couch and wraps me up in it. "Midna and I will go get the mirror, you rest here until your fever goes down." he brushes the back of his fingers against my cheek.
"Okay..." I said as I drift asleep. For the first time in a long time I slept with no fear of my dreams. Ganondorf no longer holds fear within me. I wake up not knowing how long had passed and see Link talking to the Yeta.
"You find it, uh?" she asked,
"No... It was a pumpkin..." Link said,
"What? Pumpkin? But why there? No good, uh... where I leave it? Uh! Maybe that room." she points to a different room on the map.
"I'll check it out," Link walks over to me, "How are you feeling?" he asked pressing his cold hand on my forehead.
"Ok..." I said as he looks at me worried,
"Your fever hasn't gone down... if it hasn't gone down by the time we come back we're getting out of here." Link said,
"What? But we're so close!" Midna protested,
"If her fever gets worse she could die, I won't risk it." Link said,
"Fine but if we find the key..."
"Then we'll grab the mirror then leave." Link said "Get some more sleep," he said and I rest some more, A while after Link it felt like a hand touched my forehead, it felt larger than Links and it was warm. The hand lifts and I open my eyes to see who it was, but no one was there. I sit up, the dizziness I was feeling had subsided and I felt more rested. Link enters the room with a sour look on his face.
"Um, it was cheese..." Link told her,
"What? Cheese... Uh... Did husband move it? Uh... Where in world did we put it...? Sorry, I need think time, uh. Take cheese to husband, uh?" Link sighs and exits the room then comes back. "I think I remember, Uh!" she points at the map again.
"You don't look as pale," he said looking over at me.
"I think my fever's gone down." I said and he walks over and checks,
"Yeah, it's definitely better, but you should still rest some more." Link said and I go back to sleep. I wake up to Yeto in the room holding two bowls of soup.
"Eat! Get better, Uh!" he said and I sit up and take the bowl and we start eating, I could taste fish, cheese and ... pumpkin... strange combination, but it was warm and eating the soup helped me get my strength back.
"I feel all better!" Yeta said standing up, "Must show Hylian boy where room is." she said,
"I'll come with, there might be monsters." I said, I finished my soup and followed after her. I knew I wasn't at full strength but I won't leave Link to fight against this mirror on his own. We head out and run into Link on the second floor.
"Pura? You shouldn't be walking around yet." Link said,
"I'm fine, fevers gone." I smile,
"Don't push yourself." I hear Midna say.
"Bedroom right above us, I take you there, uh." We follow after her to the third floor and Link unlocks the door. "Thank you, you come inside." I was starting to feel uneasy, I wasn't dizzy anymore but something wasn't right. We walk into a grand bedroom decorated in old furniture most was damaged but still held its elegance. On the far wall hung a broken mirror that must be the mirror of twilight. "Here… mirror, you look at it, uh…" she stares at the mirror. I could feel evil energy coming from the mirror. "Uh… so pretty… pretty…uh… so pretty." Her eyes darken and she begins to twitch. "Pretty… pretty… mirror… lovely…"She turns towards us, her face completely changes to that of a monster with red eyes and fangs. "Not take Mirror!" she screamed as the windows above us shatter. Link runs over and covers our head with his shield to block the glass shards. A large gust of wind blows in surrounding Yeta and a large ice sculpture surrounds her and the rest of the room is covered in ice.
"Keep your distance, I need room." Link said taking out a massive ball and chain and he starts swinging it around using it to break the ice. Whenever Link breaks through the ice enough I strike with an arrow. Until all the ice surrounding her disappeared.
"That thing is handy." I said as link grabs the mirror shard.
"One down, two to go." Midna said "Still… I feel bad about the way we treated that girl. To think the mirror of twilight has the power to change people like that… This world… all worlds… can be cruel… Let's hurry up and collect the other two pieces you two." She said as the door behind us bursts open and Yeto runs in seeing his wife on the ground. He cries out in fear plowing through us to get to her.
"Uh… uh… what… what wrong with me?" Yeta said as Yeto olds her up.
"Very strange… you just dreaming, uh." He responds.
"Yeto! Mirror you gave…" she looks around but he shakes his head.
"Forget mirror, Yeta… No, look into eyes of Yeto… look in reflection of Yeto's eyes. There the beauty!" He picks her up and holds her close, "Who need mirror?"
"My love, uh!" they hug, "Love you, uh!"
"Love you two, uh!" He responded. They look so happy together…My cheat hurts, the thought that I may never find that kind of love again. I'm snap back to the realization that Link was pressing his forehead against mine again.
"Looks like your fever is completely gone." He smiles leaning back,
"Yeah, Yeto's soup really helped." I said
"We should get going, let the love birds have their privacy." Link said
"Agreed," I said as we're teleported back to castle town, I still feel nauseous when we teleport but not as badly as it did last time.
"You alright?" he asked and I nod, "Alright we should check in with the others, see if there's any news." We walk over to Telma's bar.
"The sages said that one of the shards of the mirror is in the sacred realm… The only time we've gone to the sacred realm is when we're visited by the hero's shade… not to mention that we're not even there physically…" I said,
"We have to figure out another way…" Link said as we enter the bar.
"Hey you two!" Telma said and we walk over to her. "Rusl found some news. He's in Faron woods checking out some stuff." She said,
"Thanks Telma," Link said and we walk over to the others.
"Hey," Ashei waved us over, "The beast of Snow Peak hasn't appeared in Zora domain since you were looking into the beast. In the end the troubles in Hyrule and the events on Snowpeak were beyond even my imagination. Honestly… There's got to be someone who knows what really happened…" She walks over to the others, I look over at Link, deciding not to tell her with just a glance. It's best that the Yeti's get their privacy.
"We're going to go check in with Rusl, We'll be back." Link called out and they wave us off as we leave the bar. We exit Castle town and Lin uses some grass to whistle for Epona, I wish I had my flute… Link helps me up and we ride to Faron woods.
"He should be near the forest Temple." Link said as we see Rusl near the right side of one of the temple's tree roots looking out to an unknown location. We climb down and walk over to him.
"It's been a while since we took a walk in the forest huh? Yes and how our world has changed… say… do you know about the far side of this deep gorge? Some say there is an ancient temple deep in the woods that gives a sacred power." Rusl said as Link looks back at the Master Sword… "The ancients of the Hylians created the temple… signs of their civilization, ancient, but very sophisticated, and everywhere. If someone could obtain the power of those ancient people… well I am sure it would go a long way toward saving Hyrule. Link… Pura… would you take on this task?" he asked,
"Yes," Link said.
"I knew you would." He said,
"I'll get us across the gorge." I said casting Farore's wind on us.
"Is it safe?" Link asked,
"Yes, now that I have all of my memories back I'm in full control of my magic." I said,
"Alright, I trust you." He grabs hold of my hand "We'll be back Rusl." We jump and fly over the gorge. "That was cool." Link laughs,
"I try," I joke and we walk forward, but we're stopped by the Hero's Shade and brought back to the sacred realm.
"Hello again," He said, "There are but a few hidden skills left for me to teach you. I have warned you of this before, but if you fail to execute the hidden skill I am about to teach you, your life will be forfeit…"
"I'm not afraid!" Link said… but I am…
"Very well the sixth skill is the jump strike. One of the basic sword techniques is the jump attack. It inflicts great damage, but none would call it effective against multiple foes. To perform the jump strike, prepare a jump attack, but focus power in your blade. The serge the blade reacts on strike all enemies around you." He said and they start to spar. Shade splits into three people and heads towards Link. He pulls back his sword and focuses the power to the tip of the blade, he jumps into the air and hits the Shade in the middle and all three are blasted back.
"Impressive! Do not forget your training. I have one more hidden skill to pass to you. You are already endowed with the strength required of the Hero. Do you not already feel the courage granted buy this strength as it guides you step by step towards your true enemy? Believe in your strength. Continue your path forward and you will not fail."
"Ganondorf…" I said,
"So you now have all of your memories back." He said,
"He placed dark magic inside of me… That's why I reacted the way I did…" I placed my hand over my chest. "But now he has no hold on me, we have the advantage."
"Stay close to Link, he'll protect you from the dangers ahead… Don't let the past cloud the present. We'll meet again." He said as we leave the sacred realm.
"What did he mean by that?" Link asked,
"I'm not sure…" I said as we head further into the forest. Everything seems very familiar as it all hits me, "The sacred grove!" I said as my mind starts to put the pieces together. Link said he went to the sacred grove and got the Master Sword in some old ruins… could it be the temple of time? A Skull Kid jumps and plays a strange instrument similar to a trumpet but with multiple pipes, strange branch like puppets appear in front of us blocking our path.
"Not this guy again." Link scowled as we fight our way through following the Skull Kid.
"Friend of yours?" I joked,
"I encountered him last time I was here." Link said,
"Well in that case let's catch him!" I said and we continue following him back and forth through the forest until a new path appears and we stop the Skull Kid.
"Hee, Hee, Hee… That was fun! I'll tell you what! I'll let you into a secret place!" The Skull Kid said disappearing. Another path opens and we enter the ruins where Link found the Master Sword. The pieces that were still left did resemble the Temple of Time… a hundred years of age didn't do it any favors.
"The sacred, ancient forest… so that's what they were talking about…" I said as we walk by a stone and it disappears showing a door behind it. I walk up to the door and hesitate before grabbing the handles and pulling it open. It's a gate to the sacred realm, we walk inside and everything around us changes like we went back in time. It looked like the Temple of Time I remember but with more decorations. We walk to the back where the pedestal for the Maser Sword is and got some nasty flash back of when I was left alone and almost found by Ganondorf.
"You alright?"
"Just some memories I'd rather have forgotten… what do you think we should do? It doesn't go further from here." I said as Link looks at the pedestal,
"I think it's a key." He said pulling out the Master Sword and striking it into the pedestal. I flinch half expecting Link to disappear… this must be when Shade meant about the past, I can't les those memories confuse me… A magic staircase appears going up the stained glass window and it disappears revealing a door behind it.
"This place is a lot more elaborate than I remember…" I said as we climb up the stairs neither of us knowing what dangers lie ahead.