Legend of Zelda: Quest for the Sages by Rachel_13 prologue It has been almost one year since Link defeated Ganon and he was sealed into an evil realm. Now some of his followers have found a way to bring him back. All they need is the six Sages, the three Spiritual Stones and the Ocarina of Time. They have captured the Sages of Forest, Water, Shadow and Spirit. If they don't get the other items they demand they will kill the Sages. The three Stones and the Ocarina, since Link last used them, have been hidden. chapter 1 "Link..." A voice woke the sleeping Link while it was still dark outside. He sat up in bed and looked around. He saw no one. "Link, can you hear me? It's Zelda. I need to see you at the castle immediately. It's important. I'll explain when you get here." Link got out of bed and picked up his sword and shield. Then he left his house, jumped down the ladder, and started towards the castle. Outside the forest, Link saw his horse Epona and mounted her. He rode all day, and it was getting dark by the time he arrived at the castle market. He stopped to buy a bundle of arrows and some bombs. Then he left the market and proceeded to the castle. At the gate, Link stopped. "Hey! Who are you?" asked the guard at the gate. "I'm Link. The Princess said she needed to speak to me immediately." The guard looked at him. "Ah yes, the Princess informed me you would be coming. Wait one moment and I'll open the gate for you." He waved his hand, and the gate opened. Link rode through to the drawbridge, dismounted, and walked into the castle. He went up to someone inside. "Excuse me, do you know where the Princess might be? I need to speak to her." Link asked. The man, obviously another guard, nodded. "Yes. She is in the courtyard right now." He replied. Link walked quickly out to the courtyard to find a very worried-looking Zelda. When she saw him, she jumped up in surprise. "Oh! It's you! You don't know how relieved I am to see you. Something awful has happened." She said. Link looked at her. "What? What happened?" he asked her. "Some of Ganon's followers have found a way to break the seal we've put on him. All they needed is the six Sages, the Spiritual Stones, and the Ocarina. They've already captured four Sages! They demand the other two, the Stones, and the Ocarina, or the four Sages will die!" Now Link could see why Zelda was worried. He was afraid to ask this, but he did anyway. "Which Sages have they captured, and where can they be found?" Zelda looked at the ground. "They've captured Nabooru, Ruto, Impa, and...Saria. I...I don't know where they are." "How are we supposed to find the Stones if the Sages that were captured are the only people who know where they are?" Zelda thought for a moment. "That's why we need to get the Ocarina from its hiding place." She said. Link looked confused. Then it connected. "Oh! I see. I can get the Ocarina, play Saria's Song, and ask her where the Stone is!" Zelda nodded. "Exactly." "Now we have to worry about where the Ocarina is." Said Link. "I have that worked out. I hid the Ocarina myself. We'll just have to go get it." Link nodded. "We'll have to go as soon as possible. Can we leave today?" He said. "Yes. I'll go tell Father and get a horse. Wait for me in the market." chapter 2 Zelda went to tell her father, and Link went into the market. He was startled by a strange man who tapped him on the shoulder. Link turned around. The man had brown hair and brown eyes. "Hi. Are you going on an adventure? It sure looks like you are." He said. "Yes I am. I'm not leaving until my companion gets here though." Link replied. "Do you need someone else to come along? I could use something to do..." Said the man. Link looked at him strangely. "Well, I just thought if you and only one other person were going, you may need some extra help." He said when Link looked at him. "By the way, my name is Jjin. If you want to know why I'm so nosey, it's because I've been cursed." "Cursed?" asked Link. "Yes. I was talking to a wizard one day, and I asked a lot of questions. Then he cursed me to always be really nosey." Said Jjin. "Can you fight? Do you have a horse and weapons?" asked Link. "I have a horse, and a sword, but no shield." Link took Jjin into the Bazaar, and Jjin bought a shield. "Go get whatever you need to go with us, and come back quickly." Jjin went into the back alleys. He came back with a horse, a sword, and a bedroll. Zelda finally came through. "It's the Princess!" Link went up to her. "It's about time you came! This is our new companion, Jjin. What took you so long anyway?" asked Link. "Father insisted I take some food, and some bedrolls with me. I would have come sooner, but I had to find a swift horse." She said. Link grinned. "That's a pretty good explanation. Are we ready?" Zelda and Jjin nodded. "Good. Let's go!" The three rode out of the market, with Zelda in front, since she knew where the Ocarina was. "Um...I've been meaning to ask, where exactly did you hide the Ocarina?" Link inquired. Zelda turned around a little. "I hid it in Lon Lon Ranch, with my trusted friend Talon." chapter 3 As the sun started setting, the group stopped to eat and sleep. Zelda and Link explained to Jjin what was going on. After they finished, they discussed their plan. "I think you should contact Saria and ask her where she hid the Kokiri Emerald." Zelda said. Link agreed. "How do we find the Zora Sapphire? Ruto could have hidden it anywhere!" exclaimed Link. "If we're going to look anywhere, we might as well start at Zora's Domain and Lake Hylia. Then we find the Goron's Ruby, which will most likely be on Death Mountain." Said Zelda. They continued to Lon Lon Ranch, and by midday, they were there. They went in, and looked for Talon. They saw Malon first. "Malon! Do you know where we can find Talon?" asked Link. Malon nodded. "I think he's in the barn, or the house. I know he's at least in the ranch." She said. "Thanks!" said Zelda. Link went into the barn and Zelda and Jjin went into the house. Link found him. He went to get the others, and told them Talon was in the barn. "Talon! Do you remember where you hid my Ocarina? We need it!" Zelda told him. Talon nodded. "I left it in here. Hold on one minute and I'll get it." He looked through the hay and came back with a wooden instrument that looked like a flute. "That's it! Thank you Talon!" Zelda looked at Link. "Can you play the song?" "I think so." Link held up the Ocarina and played a few notes. Out of it came a fast-paced tune. 'Link? Is that you?' It was Saria's voice. 'Saria, we need to find the Kokiri Emerald. Where did you hide it?' Link asked. 'Um...I put it somewhere in Kokiri Village. I can't say any more. Please rescue me and the other Sages!' Her voice faded out, and Link told the others what she said. "It's somewhere in the forest. Let's try to make good time!" They mounted their horses and rode to the Kokiri Village. It took about a day and a half. chapter 4 When they arrived, they got off their horses and went in to find Mido standing in front of the entrance. "Hey! Who are you guys? You're not Kokiri, so I'm not letting you in!" he said. Link rolled his eyes. "Mido, we need to come through. There's something we need to get." He said. "How do you know my name, and how do I know you're not lying?!" Mido asked annoyingly. Link sighed and played Saria's Song for him. "That song...it's something Saria used to play all the time!" he said. "She taught it to me." Link replied. "The only person she ever taught it to was Link, and he's gone!" Mido exclaimed. "I am Link you genius! Can you please let us through?" Link said. A speechless Mido could do nothing more than move. They all went through. "Okay. Jjin? You check all of that area in the West. Zelda? You look in the East part. I'll look in the north and south areas." They all split up and looked. Link checked Saria's, Mido's, the Twins' and his houses. Then he checked the training grounds. No stone. Zelda looked up near the Lost Woods. She pulled out a ball of string, tied one end of the string to her wrist, tied the other to a tree inside the Lost Woods, and went exploring. She unwound the string as she went. She looked in every bush, every small pool, and behind every rock. She arrived at the Sacred Forest Meadow, and she looked in or around everything there, but still no stone. Jjin searched the river, the old Deku Tree, and behind houses. He didn't find the stone. He looked in the houses, but it still wasn't there. Zelda came back from the Lost Woods, Link came out of his house, and Jjin came from the House of the Know-It-All-Brothers. They met up at the entrance. "Any luck?" Link asked. "No." said Zelda. Jjin shook his head. Things looked really bad. Then Link heard something. "Hey! What's this weird looking rock? It's green!" said the voice. The travelers searched frantically for where the voice was coming from. It was coming from a girl inside the Kokiri Shop. "Hey! Can I see that stone? I need it." Link said. The girl handed it to him. "Here." She said. Link examined it. "This is it! Thanks, kid!" They left the Kokiri Forest. chapter 5 "We need to go to Death Mountain and talk to Darunia. Then we can find the other stone." Said Zelda. They took some food before they left. Then they set off on horseback. It took about one day to get half way there. They stopped to rest their horses and to eat lunch. "How are we going to call Darunia?" Link asked. "I'll worry about that." Said Zelda. Jjin was strangely quiet. He'd had some trouble on Death Mountain before. He shuddered at the thought of what happened there. After lunch, they mounted the horses and went ahead at a fast trot to make up some time. They were mostly quiet. "We're almost there! I can see the mountain up ahead!" Link said. Zelda smiled. Jjin frowned. As they neared the Mountain, they saw Kakariko Village at the foot of it. The companions rode straight through, since they didn't want to waste any more time. "We have to leave the horses here. The mountain's too dangerous for them to climb up." Link said. Zelda went to a house and asked if they could leave their horses there and asked if they would be safe. "Of course Princess! You will come back and your horses will be here, safe and sound. You can trust me!" They left their horses in front of the house and started their climb up Death Mountain. "We're only going up to Goron City, right?" Jjin asked. "Yes. We can contact Darunia from there." Zelda replied. Their conversation was interrupted by a swarm of Red Tektites, who Link and Jjin defeated after a few minutes. "We have to keep our guard up, there may be more Tektites." Link said. They were getting really close to Goron City. They could see the way in. Then Link had a really silly thought. "We could have saved a lot of trouble by going through the Lost Woods." Zelda looked at him. "Maybe, maybe not. We could have gotten lost that way." She said. chapter 6 They entered Goron City. The Gorons greeted them and gave them pieces of information. The companions went into Darunia's layer, and were startled to find a girl with black hair that framed her face and green eyes sitting there. "Who are you, and what are you doing in the layer of Darunia?" The girl asked. Link stepped forward. "I'm Link. This," he pointed to Zelda, "is Princess Zelda. And this," he pointed to Jjin, "is Jjin. We are looking for Darunia. We're not telling you why until you tell us who you are. And why you're here." He said. "I'm Mirah, Darunia's assistant. I'm just waiting for him to return. What do you need to see him for?" Mirah asked. "We need to borrow the Goron's Ruby again." Zelda told her. "The Goron's Ruby?! What do you need it for?" Mirah asked. "It...it's a long story." Link said. "I'll get Darunia to come." Said Zelda. For a few moments, she just stood there. Then a light appeared and Darunia stepped out. "What am I needed for?" He asked. "Darunia, we need to borrow the Goron's Ruby again. Sorry to intrude on you like this, but the other Sages are in danger." Zelda said. "I'm always willing to help you! Here. "Darunia said, and took something out of a space in the floor. He handed it to Zelda. "Thank you Darunia. I'll get it back to you later." She said. "Um, Zelda? Can I come with you? If Darunia's a Sage, I don't have a job, and I'm a traveler so..." Mirah said. "If you have a horse and some kind of weapon, you're welcome to come with us." She replied. "I'll go get them!" Mirah exclaimed. A few minutes later she came back with a sword and shield. "My horse is outside." She said. When they went outside, they saw a horse standing there. "This is my horse Verva. She's been through a lot, and she's pretty fast." chapter 7 "Now we need to find the third Spiritual Stone. It may be in Zora's Domain or Lake Hylia. Let's start with Zora's Domain, since we're already close to there." They set out to Zora's Domain, feeling a slightly cold wind. Zelda started to shiver. "Something's wrong here. Why is it so cold?" Link finally said. It had started snowing. In Zora's River there were more Octoroks than usual. The travelers fought them off quickly. They were at a waterfall in front of the entrance to the Domain. Link got out the Ocarina and played the Royal Family's Melody. The water stopped pouring from the fall. "We'll have to jump. Hurry!" Link told the others. They all safely entered Zora's Domain. When they saw it, they were speechless. "This has happened before...but Ganon couldn't have done it this time!" Link explained. "If we're going to get on the ice, well need to be careful. There aren't many places to hide the stone." Zelda said. "Should we split up?" Mirah suggested. "Ssshhh! I hear something!" Link said. He walked around a little. In the distance, Link heard a voice whining. He went over to the Zora Store, and he saw a person inside. "Hey!" He yelled. The person turned around. It was a Gerudo. She had long orange hair and purplish eyes. "Yeaaaah! You scared me!" She said. "Who are you, and what are you doing here?" Link asked. "I'm Niyadah. I was following the other Gerudos and they trapped me in here. I was spying on them." She replied. "Well, okay. Let's get back to the others." Link said to her. Link led Niyadah back to where the others were. "This is who that noise was coming from. Now we have five people here. Niyadah, do you know who did this?" Link asked her. "I spied on the other Gerudos and they said something about wizards messing this place up. I followed them, and they saw me. They left me behind in that store. They were looking for some stone..." Niyadah told the others. chapter 8 "The Zora's Sapphire?" Zelda asked. "Yes! That was it!" Zelda looked at Niyadah. "Did they find it?" Niyadah shook her head. "They tore this place apart, and when they didn't find it, the wizards turned it to ice." Link thought for a moment. "Did they check near the Ice Cavern?" He asked. "They didn't go up there. They figured they had searched all over." Niyadah replied. "Link, that's a good idea! Maybe it's in there!" Mirah said. "It's worth a try." Zelda said. "Let's look in the Ice Cavern." Link said. They all followed Link, since he knew where it was. They had to hop on small and big and small icebergs, but they made it across dry. "Ready? Let's go in." Zelda led the way, then Link came, then Jjin, then Niyadah, then Mirah. Zelda started walking too fast and she slipped, but Link caught her. "Don't go too fast. Remember, this is ice." "Go in this room, but be careful of the Freezards. They spit out ice and freeze you. Also, there are Keese that go through the ice and they can freeze you too." Link informed the others. A Freezard stepped in Zelda's path and was preparing to freeze her, but Link defeated it with a few swipes of his sword. "Which room would it be in?" Niyadah asked. "Probably the last room." Link replied. They headed for the back room in the cavern. "We're almost there." Zelda said. In front of them was a locked door in front of them. "Uh-oh. We don't have any keys do we?" Link asked. "I bet I can pick the lock. It's not too hard." Niyadah said. She got out her dagger and quickly broke the lock. "Easy!" Niyadah put her dagger into her belt, opened the door and in front of her was a White Wolfos. "I have a small problem. I was never taught to fight." Niyadah said. Jjin jumped in front of her and tried to kill the beast. He got its weak point a few times and Link stepped in to help. He rushed over a little too fast, slipped, and fell headfirst onto the ice. Jjin finished off the beast, although it took a few minutes, and it disappeared, leaving a stone. "The Zora's Sapphire!" Zelda said. She grabbed it and Link stood up. "Hello 'your grace'." Niyadah said, giggling as she leaned down for a joking bow. "Oh, funny, very funny! You didn't do any better." He replied. They started to leave the cavern, with Link rubbing the back of his head and Zelda putting the stone in her pouch. chapter 9 "What do we do now? We have the Stones and the Ocarina, but are we going to give them to the Gerudos? They'll bring Ganon out, and we know how hard it was to get rid of him last time he was a problem!" Link exclaimed. "We have the Stones and Ocarina because we don't want them to fall into the wrong hands. We may be able to sneak the Sages out of wherever they are without using these." Zelda replied. "Link, why don't you ask Saria where she is? We can at least get some clues." Link took the Ocarina from Zelda and played Saria's Song again. 'Link? Can you hear me?' 'Yeah Saria. We need to know where you're being held. Can you help us? Even give us a clue?' 'There's a huge statue somewhere in here, and there are some BIG creatures called 'Iron Hands' or 'Iron Knuckles'. I can't remember which. That's all I know, except for the fact that it's hot in here. Where are you talking to me from?' 'We're in Zora's Domain, it's been frozen over again. We'll be there as soon as we can!' With that, the contact ended. "So, what did Saria say to you?" Mirah asked. She was beginning to trust these people, except Niyadah. "She said there's a statue in the structure, which means it may be a temple." He replied slowly. "There are Iron Knuckles there too. I've only seen them in the Spirit Temple." They headed for the Desert Colossus. "I don't understand why we just can't warp there." Mirah complained. "Only the person playing the song would be able to warp, and Link's the only person here who knows it. We'd be left behind." Zelda didn't need to go into further detail, Mirah understood. "Do we need to find a place to stay? It's getting dark." Niyadah pointed out shivering. "And it's cold too." Link looked at the surroundings. "Isn't Kakariko Village near here? Or some other village?" He asked. "Yes. Kakariko is just about a mile or so away. We can get there and sleep in an inn there." Niyadah looked relieved. "Good. I'm willing to give up anything to go somewhere warm after being in that ice place for about a day!" chapter 10 They got to Kakariko in a hurry, because it was almost so dark they couldn't see. "Who has money? We each need to pay for our own room. "Zelda asked. Link, Jjin and Mirah checked their pockets. "I have enough." Link said to her. Mirah and Jjin agreed. "Good." They continued on, and arrived in Kakariko right as the sun finished setting. They went up to the innkeeper. "We need to rent five rooms for the night please." Zelda told him. "You traveling 'er somethin'? Ya sure look like ya are! Haw haw! You're in luck; we have about six vacant rooms. Weird, business's been pretty slow since they got on to repairin' the market. People just pack up their things and scoot on outta 'ere, like the place's haunted 'er somethin'." He said. They put their rupees out on the counter and the innkeeper gave them five room keys. "Thank you sir!" Zelda exclaimed as she went up to her room. They all went to their rooms and slept. In the morning, they went down for breakfast. "Where exactly are we going?" Niyadah asked. Zelda sighed and said "To the spirit temple in the Desert Colossus." The innkeeper couldn't help but eavesdrop. "Goin' to the desert eh? Well, I'd be careful if I were you. There are Leevers out there, they come outta the ground and attack ye. You're welcome to stay 'ere any time you like." The innkeeper told them. It was cloudy outside. "We'd better go ahead and leave. It looks like we're going to get some rain, and wet travelers in a desert isn't good." Link said, looking out the window at the sky. "Good idea." Zelda thought. They were a little too late; rain had started a little while after they left the inn. "Well, this is good luck isn't it?" Niyadah asked sarcastically. "What do you mean?" Mirah asked. "Well, we're out here, we're going to a desert, and it has to rain. That is what I mean." Niyadah told her. "Oh." Mirah said, getting more annoyed with Niyadah's attitude by the minute. It was starting to get dark again as the group reached the market. "We've been all over the place haven't we?" Zelda asked. "Yes, we have. Should we stop somewhere to get dry? It's still raining, and we're here, and it's getting dark. There's an inn here too maybe we could stay the night?" Link said. "Well, it couldn't hurt, and it's starting to thunder anyways. Okay, we'll stop here for the night." chapter 11 Everyone seemed relieved to get inside. This inn was a little smaller than the one in Kakariko, but no one minded. They entered, and most conversation stopped. Link brushed a strand of dripping hair off his face and looked around. The innkeeper came up to them. "Good evening to you Princess. What can I do for you?" He asked her. "Well, we need to rent five rooms for tonight, and we need some dry clothes." She replied. "Yes ma'am. Right away!" He exclaimed. About ten minutes later they were all in dry clothes and sitting in the dining hall. "So, why are you here anyways? Wouldn't you be staying in the castle?" The innkeeper asked. "No, we're on a very important quest. It's easier to be here than in the castle, especially since we'll be leaving as soon as the rain stops." Zelda told him. The others nodded their heads in agreement. The innkeeper turned his attention to Jjin. "Hey! Haven't I seen you before? I know! You're that guy who goes around saying he's cursed all the time! Jjin isn't it?" Jjin nodded. "Yes, that's me." The innkeeper pointed at Mirah. "Who's this?" He asked. Mirah folded her arms. "I'm Mirah, and I'd like for you not to point at me. It's rude." She snapped. Before the innkeeper could let out another word Niyadah said, "I'm Niyadah, so don't ask me anything, because you already know." She said calmly to him. He looked at Link. "Hmmm... You look kind of familiar...do I know you?" He asked. Link looked around. "No, I don't believe you do. I'm Link." He said. The innkeeper looked at him some more. "Link is it? Hmmm..." he paused for a moment. "I know! You're the man who got rid of Ganon! I knew you seemed familiar! No one here stops talking about you or the Princess!" He exclaimed. Right about then their dinner was ready. As they ate they discussed strategies for freeing the Sages without giving the wizards or the Gerudos what they wanted. "If they're in some kind of cage we could have Niyadah pick the lock on it." Mirah suggested. "We first have to worry about getting to the temple and finding the Sages in one piece. We'll worry about other things after that." Zelda replied. They soon finished dinner and went up to their rooms. By the next day the rain had stopped, but the ground was wet and spongy. The companions paid the innkeeper and left. As they were leaving the innkeeper exclaimed one last remark. "Be careful! We wouldn't want the most important people in Hyrule being dinner for a monster!" chapter 12 "What do you suppose he meant by that?" Link later asked Zelda. "I don't know. Maybe he was concerned for our safety." She replied. "I just don't get it!" Link exclaimed after a short pause, changing the subject. "What?" "How anyone would want to bring Ganon back. He's caused enough trouble." "Most likely he thought to take over Hyrule and made false promises. Either that or someone, other that Ganon, wants revenge on us really badly." "We will reach the Gerudo Fortress by the afternoon. Have any ideas how to get in?" Zelda said. "What?! We have to go in there?" Link cried. "What's wrong, Hyrule's greatest legend is scared of a few thieves?" Niyadah teased. She enjoyed teasing him like that. "Do you know how many times they locked me in that stupid cell out there?! Isn't there another way to get to the desert? Without going through the fortress?" Link asked. "There's no way to get to the desert without going through. I can persuade them not to lock you up again. I promise." Niyadah told him. They were going through Hyrule Field when a speck of light started following them. "I have this strange feeling I'm being watched..." Link said. "Yeah, like someone's following us." Jjin said. Link turned around, running into the speck of light. "Hey! Watch where you're going!" It yelled. "Huh? What are you?" Link asked it. It sighed. "I'm a faerie, of course! My name is Alexis, and who are you?" The speck of light...er...Alexis replied. "I'm Link. This is Princess Zelda, Jjin, Mirah, and," Niyadah interrupted. "I'm Niyadah. I can speak for myself." "May I ask why you were following us?" Zelda inquired. Alexis crossed her arms. "I was curious. I left the forest and hit my head on something. I was turned around and couldn't find my way back. As soon as I saw you, I figured you could help me." She told Zelda. "You're from the forest? How did you get all the way out here?" Link asked her. "I don't know! Something hit me on the head and the next thing I know, the forest is nowhere in sight!" Alexis looked a little closer at Link. "You look kinda familiar. Have you ever been to the Kokiri Forest?" "Well, yeah, I do. In fact, I live there." He told the faerie. "No wonder you look familiar! You're that guy who was rushing out of the forest at dawn! You're the same person who was looking for the Kokiri Emerald, aren't you?" She asked him. "Yes. We found it too." "Um...by any chance, are you going to the forest?" She inquired. "I will be, but not yet. When I go home I'll take you, if you'd like. We're going to the Spirit Temple first though." Link answered. chapter 13 "I'll go with you! That's the reason I left the forest, for adventure. I was a guardian faerie, but the girl I was taking care of left and didn't come back." Link nodded. "Okay." He wondered who she was talking about, but he didn't say anything. They saw the entrance to the Gerudo Fortress up ahead. "We're almost there!" Link said. "If you're going to the Desert Colossus, I know a shortcut!" Alexis exclaimed. "Really? Where is it?" Mirah inquired. "Hmmm... it's around here somewhere. Aha! Found it! Over here!" The faerie called. In front of her was a hole in the ground. "How far does it lead?" Link asked. "It goes right up to the Spirit Temple. I can't believe I forgot about it!" Alexis said. "I'll go down first." Link offered. Ink jumped down before anyone could object. Jjin got out a rope from his pack and tied it to a nearby tree. Then he climbed down. Zelda, Mirah and Niyadah followed. Alexis just flitted down. Before the travelers was a long corridor made of rock. It was completely straight and really dark. Alexis lead the way, making her light shine brighter than ever. "Well, this doesn't seem shorter, but I'll bet when we come to the end, we'll have saved ourselves at least half a day." Jjin muttered to himself. "What?" Link asked. "Nothing, just talking to myself." Jjin replied. When they came to the end of the passage, they were indeed in the Desert Colossus. "I see the temple! This really was shorter!" Mirah said. They ran the rest of the way to the temple, which wasn't very far. "Link, did Saria say where in the temple she was?" Zelda asked. Link shook his head. "No. I'll bet we can find them though." He thought for a little while. "If there's a huge statue that they can see, then maybe they're near the statue!" He finally said. They went into the temple and looked around. "What statue?" Mirah asked. "There's this huge statue in one of the main rooms. Maybe the Sages are in the room where TwinRova was." Link said. "Maybe they are. If so, they'll be in a cage. We may need you here after all." Zelda said. Alexis went and sat on Mirah's shoulder and looked at her surroundings. There was an elevator in the middle of the room, and they al went up to it. "We can only go one at a time. Who wants to go first?" "I will." Jjin volunteered. He walked onto the platform and it rose up, taking Jjin with it. chapter 14 After about a minute, Jjin yelled back to them. "It's safe. Nothing's really up here." Mirah and Alexis went next. Mirah stepped up to the elevator, with Alexis on her shoulder, and went up to where Jjin was waiting. Then Niyadah went up. She didn't tell anyone she was afraid of heights. Then Zelda went up and waited for Link to come up. While everyone was waiting for him, Link had managed to wake up both the Armos knights that were sleeping on either side of the elevator. After a few minutes Zelda started to worry. "Link, what are you doing?" She asked. "I'm, uh...trying to kill these Armos guys. Almost done!" He replied. Link gave the monsters a final blow with his sword and they fell to the ground. "Finished!" He called up to the group. He jumped onto the elevator and went up. "Okay, not that we're all here, where do we go now?" Zelda inquired. "This way! Just follow me." Link told her. They went from room to room, until they reached one with bars on the doors. "I have a really bad feeling about this room. Like I've been here before." Link said. There were columns all around a red rug, leading to a stone chair with something sitting on it. "Is this one of those Iron Knuckle things?" Mirah asked him. "Yeah. Don't get too close to it." Link told her. It was a little too late. Mirah was already behind it, and it woke up. Alexis gave a little shriek. She had never seen anything this big in her life. It was twice as tall as Mirah, well, almost twice as tall. Mirah was pretty short, so he was just about six inches taller than Link. Okay, now back to the subject. Mirah was standing behind the stone chair, Jjin was running to the back of the group, Niyadah was at the entrance to the room, Zelda was readying her bow, Alexis was with Mirah and Link was getting out his sword. The beast attacked. It slammed its axe into one of the stone columns and it broke into about one hundred tiny pieces. Mirah surprised it from behind, but it just threw her up against a wall. "We have to get behind it!" Link cried to the others. He dodged a blow from the Iron Knuckle's axe and tried to get behind it. "Someone distract him!" Link shouted. Jjin ran over to the beast and yelled out something that I don't wish to repeat. It was something like this. "Come and get me you chicken-butt son of a witch! You clumsy pile of crap, you couldn't kill a darn fly if it landed on your freaking' tongue!" Now do you see why I didn't want to quote that? Good. chapter 15 Link looked surprised at Jjin's profanity, but at least it got the warrior's attention. Zelda hit it with one of her arrows. He took it out and threw it back at her. It turned around and Link slashed repeatedly at it with his sword. "How do you like that huh?" I'm guessing that was about the smartest Iron Knuckle there ever was, is, or will be, because it decided it wanted to stay alive and crashed through a wall. The bars on the doors lifted. "Are you okay? I saw you get thrown against the wall." Jjin said to Mirah. "Yeah, I guess I'm okay. My shoulder hurts though." Link went over to Zelda. "Where did that arrow go? It didn't hit you did it?" He asked her. She shook her head. "I think it landed over there." She told him, pointing at the door. "Well, let's go." Jjin suggested. They left the room and entered a hallway. At the end of it was a door with a lock on it. Niyadah took out her dagger. "Need me to pick it?" She asked. Link nodded. She picked the lock and opened the door. "So this is the statue you were talking about! Well then, where are the sages?" Mirah asked. "They'd be up there." Link said, pointing at a platform above him. "Oh. How are we supposed to get up there?" Mirah inquired. "We go up the stairs." Zelda told her. They climbed the stairs and looked at the platform. "We have to jump to get onto it." Niyadah said. Suddenly they heard a shriek from Zelda. Link turned around and saw a Gerudo holding a knife to her throat. "No!" He yelled. He was about to charge when the Gerudo spoke. "Ha ha. Silly boy. You think you can overtake me? The most skilled Gerudo there ever was? Well, you must be mistaken if you think so. Don't come one step further or your precious princess dies!" The Gerudo said noticing that Link was trying to come up on her while she was talking. Link stopped. "Link, kill her! She won't hurt me. I know she won't! Ganon wouldn't want her to. He'd want the joy of killing me himself." Zelda exclaimed. Jjin was behind the Gerudo, and he sneaked up on her. He hit her on the head with the flat side of his sword and she fell to the ground. Link rolled her unconscious body down the stairs and watched her fall to the floor dead. chapter 16 "Thanks." Zelda said rubbing her throat. They jumped onto the platform and looked at the statue's head. It had crumbled away leaving a metal grate. "How are we going to get across?" Jjin asked. Zelda looked at the ground below her. She pressed her hand against it. "It's solid. A bridge made of air. How could this be done?" She wondered. "It doesn't matter. Let's just go across before it dispels." Link said. They all walked across, looking down and praying that they wouldn't fall. The group safely made it across. "That's a relief." Jjin said. There was another door there, but this one had no lock. "You'd think that if the Sages were in here that they'd at least put a lock on the door. This is almost like we're walking into a trap." Link thought aloud. They opened the door and there they were, the four missing Sages, in four cages. Niyadah got to work at picking the locks and before they knew it, the Sages were out. "That was too easy. It has to be a trap." Zelda muttered. "The wizards...they said they would be coming back soon for us. We have to get out of here now!" Saria yelled. Saria was right. Before they could get to the door, they heard a hideously evil cackling. "That better not be a ghost of the TwinRova." Link threatened. Suddenly a person appeared in front of him. "Oh no my boy. I'm not that silly TwinRova witch you speak of." He said. Two more figures appeared beside him. "Then who are you?" Link asked. "We are your worst fear come true." They said. Saria dug into the man's mind and went up to Link. "Link, feel no fear. They feed off of your fear. They'll dig into your mind and bring out something that frightens you, but whatever you do, remember it's just an illusion." She told him. Link nodded. "I'm not afraid of you!" He yelled. "Oh, you will be. You will be very afraid of me. And when we're done with you, your friends will die too. Then we will take the Stones, the Ocarina, and we will find the other Sages, and then we will bring Ganon back. You will feel fear." Link knew he'd have to have help from his companions and the Sages. "Saria, tell the others I need their help." He said. She went and told the others, and they made a plan. Saria came back to Link. "Remember how you killed TwinRova? You'll need this." She said, holding out a shield. Link looked at it. It reflected the sun and Link had to shield his eyes. "Thank you." He said. chapter 17 He took the shield and put it on his arm. "Okay. First tell me who and what you are, and then we'll fight." Link said. "We are the wizards. We have no names. Let us do away with this imbecile and his little friends." He said. The two smaller wizards attacked first. One would send out shock waves and the other would throw fireballs at them. The wave one attacked first. Link held up his mirror shield and was knocked backward by the force, but not hurt. The wave bounced off the shield and knocked the wizard off his feet. Zelda loosed one of her light arrows and the wizard yelled. The other one threw a fireball at Link. He didn't have time to get the shield ready so he ran away from it. The wizard threw another fireball, and this time Link was ready. The fireball bounced off his shied and hit the wizard who threw shock waves. "Why are you picking on me?" He asked. No one answered. He threw another shock wave, which bounced off Link's shield onto the fire-wizard. The wizard fell down and Jjin attacked him repeatedly with his sword. The fire-wizard howled in pain. He threw a fireball at Jjin. "Jjin! Look out!" Link cried. Jjin moved just in time for the flames to just scorch his arm. Mirah put her hand on her sword's hilt. The shock-wizard threw another wave that knocked Niyadah off her feet, but Link bounced part of it back at him. He went up to the wizard and stabbed him once in the heart, and the wizard was dead. "One down, two to go!" Link yelled. The fire-wizard had run behind Link and tried to hit him with a fireball, but Zelda ran and pushed him to the floor. Link saw the fireball whiz past his head. He got up and prepared for the wizard's next attack. The fire-wizard threw yet another fireball at him (aren't you getting tired of this?) and Link put up his shield to block it. It bounced back to the wizard and he fell to the floor. Link ran over to where he was and looked at the wizard for a minute. Then he decapitated it. "Good riddance." He said. "Ha ha ha. You haven't won yet. Now you have to deal with me!" Link turned around to see the other wizard standing behind him. "You won't have your friends to help you either. Ha ha ha!" With that last word, all of his companions and the Sages were in a big cage surrounded by fire. "Oh great!" He exclaimed. "Link! Remember what I said!" Saria cried. "Shut up you little fool!" The wizard shouted at her. "Alright mister wizard, just you and me, one on one. Prepare to die!" Link shouted. chapter 18 Link charged, not prepared for what he felt when he ran into the wizard. "A shield! That's not fair!" Link said. "In this game, nothing is fair, there are no rules." The wizard told him. "Now you prepare to die. Ha ha ha!" The wizard should have realized he should have moved away from the cage where the prisoners were. He didn't know Ruto was a genius at disabling shields. She spoke a few words and his shield was gone. The wizard didn't notice. 'Link! His shield is gone! Attack him now!' Link couldn't recognize the voice in his head, but he did what it said to do anyways. He charged at the wizard and Zelda put some of her magic into the sword. He thrust it into the wizard's stomach and he let out a blood-curling scream. "The master wizard cannot be beaten! How can this have happened?! YYYEEEEEEAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!" The cage disappeared and the companions moved away from the wizard. The wizard grinned evilly. "I can do one thing before I die." He said, and muttered something in an unknown language. A giant beast appeared as the wizard let out his last breath. It came up to Link and roared in his face. "RRRRROOOOOAAAAARRRRR!!!!!" Link waved his hand in front of his face. "When was the last time you brushed your teeth?" He joked. The wizard's voice could be heard. "Meet my pet the Gnoraf (stupid name huh? Where'd he come up with it?)! Gnoraf, destroy these fools on your master's name!" The beast, uh, Gnoraf I think it was, charged at Jjin. He stuck out his sword and covered his eyes. The sword went into its stomach. It held still for a moment and then reared back. It let out a horrible scream, turned around and started breathing fire at anything it saw. "Zelda! Use an ice arrow!" Link yelled. Zelda took out an ice arrow and strung it in her bow. Gnoraf turned towards Zelda and planned to shower her in flames when she loosed the arrow and it hit him in the chest, freezing it. Link took that time to stab it repeatedly with his sword. Before it broke the ice, Zelda loosed a fire arrow and a light arrow, one hitting each eye. Jjin slashed at its tail and Mirah stabbed its feet, knocking it over. The beast lay on the floor. Niyadah went up to its head and took out her dagger. She sliced his face up, just the skin, preventing it from getting up. Link was about to kill it when Zelda loosed another ice arrow, stunning it again. Then Link, Jjin, and Mirah took their swords and took turns cutting off parts of its face. (Be glad you weren't there.) They had finally killed it. chapter 19 Yes, they had beaten it, or so they thought. It opened its eye and glared at Link, then at Zelda. "Oh great. Is this thing immortal or something?" Link asked. The beast roared one last time, shaking the room. All of the people in the room moved to the opposite side from Gnoraf. Its voice dies down, and it exploded. Everyone ducked to avoid being covered in its remains. "I think we did it." Link said. "Well if we hadn't, we'd know by now, and there wouldn't be pieces of Gnoraf everywhere." Zelda said. "Let's get out of here before they throw something else at us. Where'd Alexis go anyways?" Mirah asked. "I'm right here! Yeep! You almost stepped on me! Watch where you're going!" The faerie yelled. She got off the ground and started to fly. "Remember you promised to take me back to the forest Link!" She reminded him. Link nodded. "Yes I did, didn't I?" He said. Alexis went up to Saria. "You look familiar. Do I know you?" She asked. Saria looked at her closely. "You look like my guardian faerie. You can't be the same though." She said. Alexis folded her arms. "And why not? My child went into the Lost Woods and never came back, so I went on an adventure. She had told me to stay away from where she was going." Alexis said. "Is that so? Well, I haven't seen you in a while." Saria said. The faerie nodded. "I still have no job." She said. "I hate to break this up, but do you guys want to get out of here or what?" Link asked. "Okay. Let's go." Saria said. They started to leave the temple. "Wait! Let me check it out first." Zelda said. She put her hands on the air where the bridge had been. "It's still here, but probably not for much longer. Hurry up and cross it!" She informed them. They all ran across, and just as Link put one foot on the platform the bridge fell under his other one. He jumped up onto it before he could fall. "Let's jump back across and get out of here!" Nabooru said. "Good idea. Who knows what else could be in here!" Impa replied. They jumped to the staircase and ran down the steps. They went through the room with the Iron Knuckle (with the hole in the wall still there) and to the elevator. "I'll go down first." Link offered. He jumped onto the elevator and it took him down. The rest of them followed. "Should we take my shortcut again?" Alexis suggested as soon as they were all on the front steps of the temple. She had gone from Mirah's shoulder to Saria's shoulder. "Let's take that shortcut. It'll save us some time. Alexis, you can go home with Saria. Aren't you headed to the Kokiri Forest anyways?" Link asked. "Yes I am. Why, where are you going?" Saria asked Link. "Zelda got a letter that the King wants to see us both, so I'm going there. Then I'll come home" Link told her. chapter 20 They got through the tunnel and almost to Hyrule Castle by nightfall. They went into the market, which was by now almost deserted. They were all about to go their separate ways, with Jjin leaving first. "Jjin, don't you live here in the market?" Zelda asked. "Yes I do. I'd better go home." He said, and left for the back alleys. Nabooru and Ruto had already left the group. Now only Link, Zelda, Impa, Saria, Mirah, Niyadah and Alexis remained in the group. Mirah, Saria, Alexis and Niyadah stayed at the inn. The others went to the castle. "It's kind of sad to see that it's over already. Seems that we were just here, meeting Jjin for the first time, doesn't it?" Link thought aloud. "Yes it does. I could have sworn that I just found out about the wizards' plot this morning." Zelda replied. They rode the rest of the way to the castle in silence. They went up to the front gate and told the guards to let them in. Then they dismounted their horses and went in to the throne room. "Father, we're back!" Zelda said. The King looked up. "Zelda! You're back in one piece. I see that you finished your quest successfully and have freed the Sages." He said. "Yes father. I wouldn't have been able to do it without the help of my companions though." She pointed out. "Well, they'll get a reward for helping save Hyrule. I see Link came as I asked." The King said, looking at Link. "Yes Your Majesty. Why did you want to see me?" Link asked. "I wanted to give you a job position here at the castle as the Royal Guard. You would keep the family safe and if Ganon was ever to be released you would try to stop him." The King replied. "Your Majesty, I would be honored to take this position." Link told him. "Fantastic! This is a special occasion. I think this would be a great day for a feast! Call the cooks and inform them!" The King said. That night Link slept in a guestroom in the castle. The next day he went to the inn where the others were staying. "Link! What are you doing here?" Saria asked. "I, um, I came to wish you luck on getting back to the forest. I'm coming too but then I'm coming back here. The King offered me a job in the castle." He said. "That's great! You'll come and visit me won't you?" Saria asked. "How could I not?" Link replied. epilogue Saria, Alexis and Link went back to the Kokiri Forest and Link gathered his belongings. Then he went back to the castle. He moved into one of the towers and started his job. He really didn't mind having to guard Zelda all day. He talked to Saria as often as he could, since she was after all, his best friend. Niyadah went back to the now-peaceful Gerudo Fortress and Mirah ended up living in Kakariko Village, since Darunia was a Sage and she now didn't have a job. Jjin was still living in the back alleys of the market last anyone saw of him. Well, to sum up this epilogue, things turned out well for everyone.