Fan Fiction ❯ Professional Hero ❯ Shadowpuppets ( Chapter 36 )

Chapter 36 - Shadowpuppets

Night had just fallen over Kakariko graveyard when Link and his friends materialised on the large tri-force emblem in front of the Shadow Temple. Link checked the door but apparently it had been several years since it had opened.

"Something wrong?" Goro asked as he saw Link's puzzled face.

"I don't know," the Hero of Time replied, "it seems nobody has been inside since Romani and me fought the poe collector, so where's Impa?"

"Maybe she's over there," Malon said, pointing towards Kakariko village, "there's a lot of smoke there."

"You think it's a fire?" Mikau-zora asked his brother, but he only shrugged.

"Let's check it out," Darmani nudged his twin brother and both jumped down into the graveyard.

"Careful!" Link shouted "Poes are roaming free here ever since the old gravedigger died!"

Link cursed and followed his oldest sons down, along with the others who were curious about the large smokepillar above Kakariko village.

Several buildings around the town square were on fire, but the true origin of the pillar of black smoke appeared to be the well.

"Talk about déja-vu," Link muttered as he ran towards the figures who were standing near the well, "Impa! Are you alright? What happened?"

The sage turned and was pleased to see Link again.

"Link! Is that really you? Goddess, where have you been?"

"That's for later," he reminded her of the pillar of smoke, "what happened here?"

"I don't know," she admitted, "but I feel it eating away from me. Whatever it is, it is something that tries to get into the temple."

"So that's why nobody's in the temple yet, the threat isn't there yet."

"Is it a coincidence you arrive at this time with so much reinforcement?" Impa asked as she nodded to the two Zora's and the Goron.

"No," Link shook his head, "all over Hyrule the temples are threatened by magical beings, brought to live by Zelda."

"Zelda?" Impa shook her head, "why would she try to corrupt the temples? It doesn't make any sense, she's the seventh sage."

"She's not, she just took the title. I don't know what's wrong with her, but she's lost it. I just spend the last five years, wandering the continent, killing every monster and more that threatened something. Each and everyone had seized control of the land, and worked for Zelda."

"That can't be…" Impa shook her head.

"I just came back from Tempora," Goro stepped forward and pulled a battered shield out of his backpack, "where the war just ended. These were the aggressors."

Impa took the shield in her hands and looked at it in disbelief. Under the scratches the golden tri-force was still very visible on the marine blue field.

"I can't believe it…" she muttered.

"That doesn't mean it's not true." Link ended the discussion and tried to look down the well, "fuck, this smoke is thick."

"It's not natural, that's for sure," Impa snapped back into reality, "we tried to stop it by pouring water down, but it's not helping."

"Let's try something different," Link said as he charged a light arrow and shot it down.

A large pillar of light replaced the black smoke and died down. No more smoke came out of the well and Link readied his sword.

"Who's coming along?" he asked.

"Guess we all are," Goro nodded as he cracked his knuckles.

"We are too." Malon jumped in front of her father.

"No, you're not," Link snapped back, "you stay here with your brothers."

"No, we're not," Darunia said and jumped down the well, followed by his twinbrother.

"Fuck, not again," Link cursed and jumped down.

Link landed on the wet soil and immediately rolled forward, readying himself with his sword drawn.

"Mikau, Darunia!" he hissed while scouting the dark corridor for movement.

A Stalfos fell down right before him.

"We're here, dad," Mikau stepped from behind the fallen Stalfos, "don't worry, this was the only one here."

Link was about to start yelling against his two sons when the others came down, along with Madakar, Malon, Dekaru and Impa.

"No," Link said when he saw Malon and Dekaru, "you're not coming along."

"They can go and we can't?" Malon objected, "that's not fair."

"No, they're not staying here, they… damnit Madakar, don't let them get away!"

Link sighed as he ran after his two oldest son as Madakar chuckled.

"Now you know what I had to put up with for the last five years," he grinned, "makes me almost glad I missed you growing up."

"Madakar," Impa suddenly said, "I hadn't recognized you before. What are you doing here?"

"Looking after my grandchildren," Madakar answered as he pulled Malon and Dekaru closer, "somebody has to."

"You grandchildren? You mean Link is…"

Madakar nodded as he watched how Link had accepted the fact his kids would accompany him down the well.

"So, what can we expect down here?" Mikau-Zora asked as he readied his bow.

"At this level, a bouncing skull, and the lower level some re-deads." Link answered.

"That's it?" Goro blinked.

Link shrugged and gave the Goron a look as if to say "I know it's not much, but that's it".

A few thuds in front of them caught their attention. A giant skull engulfed in green flames came bouncing towards them.

"Block its first attack, then kill it as it runs away." Link shouted, but then suddenly realised he had no shield, just as his kids.

Three arrows and a deku nut came flying next to his head and broke the skull in pieces. As Link turned he saw his kids reload their weapons.

"Or just shoot it," Malon shrugged.

"Cute," Link sighed, "real cute. Careful, since things will be a lot harder than that. More dangerous things are skulking ahead."

Malon shrugged but was suddenly grabbed by her leg by a giant hand and dragged into the shadows.

"Malon!" Link shrieked as his daughter disappeared.

"Where is she?" Darmani asked as he scouted the area with his bow ready.

"Taken to the sublevel," Link answered calm but with anger in his voice, "follow me, I'll show the way. Be ready for more of those things. And stay on the outer ring, there are holes in the floor."

Malon was dropped by the hand on a wooden platform, in the middle of a large pond. She could make out several re-dead standing on the sides, but right in front of her stood a tall man.

"Well, well, what have we here?" he asked out loud as he picked up the little girl.

"I didn't know the Sheikah send out such young recruits," he chuckled.

Malon looked at the man in terror, his face hidden behind a white mask with a single red eye on. The same symbol, she thought, on the mask of that abomination that had killed Nabooru and Ruto. Was there a connection?

"No, there's not," the man answered, "I have no idea what you are talking about. Or should I say, thinking. You see, this mask enables it's wearer to hear thoughts. You have no secrets for me, I know everything."

"In that case," the girl calmly said before she kicked the man in the face, revealing his decayed features, causing him to let go of her.

"That…" he spoke slowly as he picked up his mask, "was very foolish of you. I will have to feed you to my re-dead."

"Looks like you should have joined them." Malon answered as she drew her sword and watched the monsters on the side of the pool who hadn't moved yet.

"Yes indeed," the man chuckled again, "but things turned out differently."

"How's that?" Malon asked.

The man was just about to answer as suddenly Link and the others fell from the ceiling shooting away arrows. Several re-dead were hit and fell down, even more lifeless then they were. Malon jumped forward and caught her assailant off guard and slashed his white robe.

"Stay focused," she reminded him, "you were to say how you weren't a re-dead."

Link's boot prevented the man again from answering and again his mask flew off.

"This is becoming a habbit," the man sighed before hitting Link in the gut.

He brought the Hero of Time with one hand before his face and a small smile was visible on his decayed face.

"You have worn my eye and face, haven't you?" he hissed as he threw Link back to the side of the pond.

"Who the hell are you?" Link spat as he jumped to his feet and killed of a stray re-dead, "and what are you talking about."

"That must be Hiroken, one of the first sheikah," Impa shouted as she and Madakar fought off the re-dead, "he was a sorcerer who made the mask of truth and lens of truth. He was thrown out of the sheikah for reasons I don't know."

"Is that why you're brought back?" Malon asked, "because you're a sheikah? Or is there another reason?"

Hiroken chuckled and picked up the mask.

"If you must know," he mused and suddenly pushed the mask on Malon's face, "then you will."

Malon shrieked as she fell down. Link yelled out and made the jump back to the wooden platform.

"I'll gut you for this." He hissed as he swung his sword, but Hiroken dodged it with ease.

"You are no match for me, little man, I have power much greater than…" he suddenly stopped and looked down at the tip of a sword protruding his chest, "now this is unexpected."

Hiroken fell down, along with the remaining re-dead, revealing Malon standing there with her sword and the mask of truth on her face. Hiroken managed to turn around and crawled as far away from Malon as possible.

"How is it possible?" he asked, "with all the thoughts in the mask you should have died. It is not possible?"

"I don't know how it worked," Malon answered in a cold dark voice as she slowly advanced, "but I know who you are, and what you are."

"No," Hiroken shook his head and held up his skeleton hand to fence her off, "please don't."

"When the sheikah were formed, you were not asked, because you studied the dark arts. But you promised your brothers that you had sworn off the black arts and you were allowed to enter the sheikah. In fact," she pointed to the eye on the mask, "this symbol is your design. But you had been tainted by the black arts and were corrupted by it. You returned to this foul sorcery and created the mask and the lens. You were cast out and sealed in here. Recently you were awakened to corrupt the Shadow temple, but you remained here because this was your property. And now you will have your demise."

Hiroken shook his head.

"No," he cried out, "you cannot killed me! You too are stained by the black arts now, you too are corrupted!"

"Stained? yes," Malon nodded.

She slowly removed the mask and looked at the undead sorcerer with her icecold blue eyes.

"Corrupted? No."

Malon closed her fist and the mask crumbled like dust. Hiroken let out a final scream as his corpse blew away in the sudden wind as sand in a desertstorm.

"Malon?" Link asked as he cautiously approached his daughter, "are you alright?"

Malon turned to her father and smiled.

"I'm fine… I think," she admitted, "I saw all those things that happened to him and I was about to perish of those thoughts, so I reached out to the ones I loved. I saw the thoughts of my brothers, of grandfather, and of you."

"You… saw my thoughts?" Link asked as he kneeled next to her.

"Not only your thoughts, but also your memories."

"Then…" Link couldn't finish his sentence.

"I saw it," Malon nodded, "and after seeing, feeling, what you had gone through, I would have done the same thing. That's what saved me from death's grasp, it saw death in me."

"I never wanted this," Link whispered.

"I fear," Malon whispered back, "this is a curse for every one in our family. Grandfather roamed the land in search of death, so did you, and maybe, if things don't go well, so will my brothers and me…"

"Let's hope not," Link cried as he hugged his daughter, "let's hope not."

AN: there you have it, another chapter (finally, I know) in Link's adventure. I really don't have any time left as opposed to a year ago, but I will complete this story and maybe start a sequel. As you may have guessed, it will reach a conclusion soon, I mean, Link's busy securing temples, so after that he'll have to fight the big boss, which is Zelda. But he still has to get past that big monster, not to mention Dark (actually, we should see Dark again soon, don't you think? How about a petition for his quick return?). Anyway, Link's temple run is almost at an end, but will the real fight start or is the major part over already? Who knows? You will in a few chapters. As for the name Hiroken, I have a real writer's block when it comes to names, yet I try to be as original as possible. I needed a name for this villain, shrugged once and named him the first thing that came into my mind that could be used for a name, namely Hiroken. I have no idea where exactly I picked it up, so if it sounds familiar, it probably is. I didn't mean to steal it, so don't sue me (but if I stole it, please, be so kind to let me know the origin of this name, because I do think it's been used before…). Oh, and review.