The Legend of Zelda - Union of Evil Powers Ch 17

The Legend of Zelda: Union of Evil Powers

Chapter 17: Ninja Control

The Gerudo Escort guided Impa along the Haunted Wasteland, using the flagpoles to reach at least the center hideout that were present, before both women ventured throughout the desert sand towards the Desert Colossus, the area which was home to the Spirit Temple itself. Thankfully the desert wind was blowing much more softly this time around, giving the women a better sight over the path ahead, which in turn allowed them to reach the Desert Colossus safely.
“Well, here we are.” The Gerudo said as the two arrived at the Desert Colossus.
“The Spirit Temple itself... it looks so huge and majestic...” Impa said.
“It is, huh? This used to be the stronghold of Ganondorf and his troops, before the young man in the green tunic went into the Temple and liberated it from its clutches, coupled with the liberation of the exalted Nabooru, whom we later learned was being brainwashed by those two witches Koume and Kotake...”
“And now it's being occupied again, right?” Impa then said.
“Indeed it is...” The Gerudo said, sighing, “...they managed to get here during the staged attack on our fortress. It's as if they intended to create the diversion to keep us occupied and leaving us unable to call for reinforcements, even more when our main opponents were our comrades who were either brainwashed or otherwise willingly joined the ranks of Ganondorf and Majora in turn...”
Impa sympathized with the young Gerudo, whom obviously was agitated.
“I take it things must have been hard for you then?” She asked.
“Yes,” The Gerudo responded, “even more when I later discovered that one of the captured Gerudo was my elder sister. I haven't heard from her ever since she was taken away, so I assume she must have been brainwashed to do Ganondorf's bidding as well... or even worse...”
“Look, we'll do whatever we can to put an end to Ganondorf's diabolical schemes, but I can't make any guarantees as to how long it may take. The deaths of Nabooru, Saria, Link, Zelda and Ruto shocked all of us...” Impa replied.
“Those are the names of Lady Nabooru's friends?” The Gerudo asked.
“Yes. Nabooru admired each of them for their own skills, with Link having earned her respect for outright stating to her that he hates Ganondorf. Nabooru told me later on that she liked Link because of that statement, stating that he had the guts for simply saying it to her face and also appreciated his efforts for helping her in retrieving the things that Nabooru was looking for herself, until she became brainwashed that is...”
The Gerudo nodded.
“So this could be a déjà vu for the both of them then, huh?” She asked.
“That it is indeed...” Impa replied, sighing deeply, “at least both will be able to do their part in wrecking havoc among Ganondorf's troops here, fighting side by side.”
“True.” The Gerudo said, nodding as the two advanced carefully to the Spirit Temple, taking out a few Leevers that tried to be a bother along the way.

Rauru safely made it back into Hyrule Field with his disguise still on, before he turned himself into a Light Wisp again and made a rapid dash towards the Lost Woods area again, intending to move to the Ice Cave where Darunia was still present. He was unaware of what has happened so far regarding the invasion of Stalfos in the Ice Cave or what Impa had been doing, thus remaining oblivious to the fact of Impa's negotiation with the Gerudo and using her own plan to wreck some havoc within the Spirit Temple. Rauru did stop for a moment as he saw a Floormaster patrolling in Hyrule Field, obviously being on its way to a different destination, waiting until the monster had passed by before continuing on towards his destination. It was quite a hectic trip, but he would see to it that he would prevail. Hopefully Darunia could be of assistance with taking the bodies to the Fairy Queen's residence as they would go and find her to see if she could grant them their wish.

Tatl and Tael were on their way back towards the Ice Cave as well, with the siblings flying next to each other.
“Tael, are you sure that this is a good idea?” Tatl asked.
“Trust me, Tatl, as long as we stick around with them and help them in any way we can, perhaps we can have a bit of redemption of our own.” Tael said.
“What do you mean?”
“I just feel bad for the time I hung around Skull Kid while he was being possessed by the Mask and being unable to stop the mask from letting the Skull Kid do the things he did. I was a fool back then… which is why I was happy that someone was able to stand up to him… Meeting Link was a godsend” Tael said.
“I see…”
“You know, if it wasn’t for him, we too would have perished if that mask succeeded in using its powers to bring the moon down on Termina, along with the Skull Kid itself and everyone in Termina altogether.” Tael then said.
Tatl floated in place for a moment.
“Thanks for that particular flashback, I needed that.” Tatl muttered sarcastically under her breath, before flying off behind her brother, obviously upset because of what her brother just said.

Impa and her Gerudo escort safely entered the Spirit Temple, dodging the Flying Pots as they arrived at the entrance, noticing the small elevator platform that was on the hallway at the far side of the room they were in, with the left side providing entry for the children while the other side was for adults, although Impa and her escort used the elevator to reach the first floor right away, figuring that they had to go there, before walking over a path of which the giant blocks with the Gerudo Emblem on it had already been pushed in their respective holes.
“That’s strange; this path was supposedly blocked before…” The Gerudo said.
“Maybe the forces who have re-occupied this temple have been clearing the path first?” Impa asked, thinking that some of the strongest goons could be good enough to push those heavy blocks into their appropriate holes…
“Could be…” The Gerudo said as the two proceeded carefully.
The two carefully proceeded on until entering the Colossus Room, which was apparently empty, coupled with the sight of already opened chests and solved puzzles. However, Impa leaned in to the right as if listening in to something.
“What is it?” The Gerudo asked.
“It’s a Floormaster. It’s patrolling on the higher staircase to our right.” Impa said.
“So there are forces that have occupied this Temple after all…” The Gerudo said as the two walked on.
“It appears so. Link and Zelda both told me that they don’t like the Floormasters one bit because of its resilient nature and just dashing straight into you all the time, but they find one enemy WORSE than the Floormaster…” Impa said, looking up suspiciously.
“And what would that be?” The Gerudo asked.
Impa responded by grabbing the Gerudo and hopping backwards, a split-second later followed by another disembodied hand landing on the spot where Impa and the Gerudo once stood, right before Impa ended the creature’s life rapidly.
“What in Nabooru’s name was that?!” The Gerudo asked terrified.
“A Wallmaster. The kind of beings that can take you all the way back to the entrance of this temple if you’re not careful. It’s the kind of sneaky pieces of shit that you want to avoid like the plague.” Impa said, before putting her daggers away.
“They can do that?!” She asked, blinking.
“You bet; my friends have seen plenty of them during their adventures and I can't blame them for their animosity to those creatures.”
The Gerudo gulped at this as the area seemed calm for now.
“So, where to now? We may need to go up here somewhere, but is it the safe area to our left or is it the area where the Floormaster is patrolling around?”Impa then asked.
“Not sure... I think we should look either side to see if we can find what we are looking for...” The Gerudo said.
The Gerudo nodded, seeing what Impa was getting at as she was ready to follow, first climbing up the area to the left and through that ignoring the area with the Floormaster for the time being. Moving through the door, they entered a stairway that led to a room with different Sun Blocks, which remained in place.
“Security isn’t quite heavy around here; are they trying to rebuild this?” Impa asked.
“It appears so, or they could be conversing in a different room altogether.” The Gerudo said.
“Hmmm…” Impa said, thinking.
“Lady Impa, how come you have been able to keep the spirits of the fallen ones with you?”
“I’m the Shadow Sage; I’ve been training in using my medallion to manipulate and control shadows if I see fit. It hasn’t seen much action so far, but I believe it’ll come of great use here. What I’ve done now is using my own shadow to hide my friends’ spirits inside for their own safety.” Impa replied.
The Gerudo nodded in understanding as the two proceeded on, avoiding the present Beamos and Red Bubbles as they continued on their way.

Darunia watched as Navi was currently sleeping on top of the Fairy Statue, evidently being tired and needing some rest. He simply waited again, being on guard and not letting anyone else visit this cave… He was ready to fight to protect the gravesite. Little did he know that the Poe whom had escaped flew on to meet with the Stalfos Commander at the far side of Hyrule Field, close to the entrance to Lake Hylia in fact, intending to report what it had seen, believing that Ganondorf and Majora would love to hear the result of this, considering what they have done. However it also meant that the loss of the Search Party had to be reported as well, since Darunia took care of all of them in his own wrath-induced rampage. He knew the Stalfos Commander wouldn’t be happy to know that one of his squads had been decimated…

Impa and the Gerudo managed to sneak their way into the next corridor, which was apparently empty. They could hear voices at the other side of the door up ahead.
“What’s going on out there?” The Gerudo asked.
“Shhh.” Impa said, motioning for her to be quiet.
As the two listened, they could hear the talking, but it was too muffled to hear clearly what they were saying.
“Hang onto me.” Impa whispered.
The Gerudo did so, right before she saw herself and Impa sinking into their own shadows… or rather one shadow, as the Gerudo’s was now connected to Impa’s! She wanted to look at Impa’s, only to have her reassure her.
“Trust me.” She said, right before the two were submerged into Impa’s Shadow, right before it moved itself underneath the door and into the room where Link first had fought an Iron Knuckle.
The throne on which the Iron Knuckle had seated before was still there… and was now being occupied by what appeared to be a group of goons whom were wearing robes that concealed their appearances. From a distance, Impa rose her head from her shadow, as did the Gerudo, spying on them from behind a pillar.
“Who are those?! I’ve never seen them before in here…” The Gerudo whispered.
“I have no idea…” Impa said.
“I have…” A young boy then whispered.
“Link?!” Impa asked, blinking at seeing Link’s head popping up from the shadow, followed by Zelda’s…
“These are Garo Robes, a type of ninja I’ve seen dwelling around the Ikana region…” Link said, whispering as he observed the still unaware group of enemies.
“But what are they doing here?” Impa asked.
“I don’t know… either Majora has planned and/or brainwashed them, or they could be here for a mission of their own…” Link replied back as Zelda moved next to him as they watched…

“So, you understand what we must do?” The Garo in the purple cloak, which Link had identified as the Garo Master, asked its underlings.
“Yes, we must spread out in Hyrule to look for the remaining Sages as well as the bodies of those whom were killed. We also need to look for surviving villagers or other people to be captured if they do not obey to the will of Ganondorf and Majora.” One of them said.
“Correct, since Ikana Canyon is in a stalemate, we need to ensure that other nations will not become a threat to our land. We already had suffered numerous losses in our battles against the Ikana Kingdom; we need to be sure that other nations will not come and take advantage of this. Our new allies have said that a small group of various races alone can be a credible threat if given the right circumstances, so we need to be sure that we will not fall prey to them, wherever they may be.” The Garo Master said.
“So where do we spread out?” A second Garo asked.
“Our leaders have their desire to spread out over time. Once this Temple has been secured, they will fall out to take over the village at the base of the erupting mountain, Ikana itself and the vast forest that connects Hyrule with Termina in order to cut off any potential supply lines that is needed to keep the survivors fed and through this force them to submit to our leaders.”
“Understood.” The second Garo said.

“Hmm, those Garo can come in useful for you and the others.” Impa then said to Link.
“How so?” Zelda asked.
“These Garo are shrouded in mystery and will leave no corpse behind when perished. Considering the fact that they are ninjas can be excellent for stealth and obtaining the information we need.” Link said.
“Alright, so how do we control them?” Zelda asked.
“We’ll stun them first for you, after which you can enter their bodies and take control of them.” Impa said as she was determined to pull this off, as the spirits of Link and Zelda sunk back in the shadow, while Impa and the Gerudo rose from it instead, hiding behind the pillars in order to plan their strike. Impa handed some Deku Nuts over to the Gerudo for assistance, whom accepted it with a nod.
“Remember, shield your own eyes when throwing one; these will release a blinding flash upon impact.” Impa whispered to the Gerudo.
“Understood.” She said as the two women took position.

“So, this land will soon follow the rule of Ganondorf and Majora, so we can cease all obligations and ensure that we benefit from this alliance and hopefully defeat the Ikana Kingdom once and for all.” The Garo Master said.
“Think again, buster!” A female voice then said.
“What the-?! Who said that?!” The Garo Master said.
“We did.” The Gerudo said as she and Impa came into view.
“What?! How did you get in here?! You must have a lot of guts to invade on our meeting here!”
“For the record, the Spirit Temple is part of GERUDO territory; you don’t belong here!”
“Very well, since you obviously hold claims to this area, let’s see if those claims are valid!” The Garo Master said, arming itself with its flaming swords, while the Garo Robes had their regular blades with them.
Impa however smirked.
“Let’s see what you got then.” She said, crouching low as if preparing to jump.
Without hesitation, the four Garo Robes and their Master attacked, only for Impa and the Gerudo to leap over their attacks and let several Deku Nuts fly around, covering their own eyes while the Garo on their turn were being stunned by the Deku Nuts’ blinding flash released upon impact.
“Now!” Impa shouted, extending her Shadow to the stunned Garo Robes and their Master.
Immediately the spirit forms of Link, Saria, Zelda and Ruto charged at the Garo Robes, while Nabooru went for the Garo Master, entering those bodies simultaneously. For several second, the Garo bodies convulsed a bit as the dark and empty spirits were vanquished and the good spirits assumed control over their bodies, in effect ‘transforming’ from Spirit forms to Garo forms. After about a minute, the five spirit had full control over their new bodies.
“Whew, this is going to take a bit to get used to.” Garo Zelda said.
“I know right? The first steps will definitely be a bit clumsy, but once you get used to it, it’ll feel a bit natural.” Garo Link said.
“Good thing this is only temporary…” Garo Saria said.
“Will this affect our normal bodies in the slightest?” Garo Master Nabooru asked.
“Regarding physical moves and abilities, no. What remains is simply the memory of how to use such a body in case this kind of control is needed again.” Garo Link said.
“Wow, it feels quite exquisite to be in control of a body other than my own.” Garo Ruto said.
“I wonder what our role will be here…” Garo Saria said.
“According to this one’s memories, this group is technically a unit of spies, which will serve this quest well…” Garo Master Nabooru said.
“True, but have they remained together?” Garo Zelda asked.
“In this case, yes. They were actually making a plan of action to move out and spread among Hyrule so they could spy on everyone here.” Garo Master Nabooru replied.
“Hmmm, perhaps we should put that to the test…” Garo Link said.
“What do you mean?”
“You said that the Garo Ninjas wanted to spy on everyone in Hyrule, according to their memories, correct? Why not ‘prove’ that to Ganondorf and Majora by doing actually this against their soldiers here and show them exactly how well the Garo can handle themselves.”
“I see where you’re going with this; by putting it into practice, it gives us the chance we need to get an insight on their plans, right?” Garo Zelda asked.
“Not just that; if Ganondorf and Majora find out that we have become aware of their plans and that the Garo have been spying on them, they’ll likely concentrate themselves to sit with the Garo Leaders to find out what exactly has happened there, which in turn keeps them occupied long enough for us to make a getaway…” Garo Link said.
“… and through that continue with our own plans, which includes your resurrection!” Impa said with a smile catching onto Link’s plan.
“Wow, looks like you’ve been thinking this over.” Garo Saria said.
“Well, it proves that strength isn’t everything to best an enemy. Besides, we should take advantage of the fact that, through this, we’re technically part of the undead.” Garo Link said.
“No argument there.” Garo Ruto said.
“But what about you, Impa?” Garo Zelda then asked.
“My escort and I will hide amongst the shadows and will be standing by to help out if needed. Just be careful though; there are likely more enemies around; I’ve already seen a Floormaster in the room with the Colossus and the room containing several Sun Blocks are almost swarming with Red Bubbles and Beamos.” Impa said.
The Garo group nodded.
“We won’t be bothered much by them due to our new disguise, it’s just you and your escort that need to remain careful, especially against sneaky enemies like the Wallmasters.” Garo Link said.
“Have they been that much of a pain to you?” The Gerudo escort asked.
“You have no idea.” Garo Link and Garo Zelda said in perfect unison.
Garo Saria and Garo Ruto shuddered at this, while Garo Master Nabooru also looked somewhat uncomfortable.
“I understand. You should get going and, by all means, act as natural as possible; that way the enemy won’t see through your disguise.” Impa said.
“Thanks for the heads up. Hopefully they’ll be as easily fooled like when I’m wearing the Stone Mask.” Garo Link said, before turning to Garo Master Nabooru.
“So, ‘Master’, what are your orders?” Garo Link then asked.
“Huh?!” Garo Master Nabooru asked.
“Garo Masters are like the superior officers to the Garo Robes; heck, when I was wearing the Garo Mask, they actually appeared before me, thinking I was their Master, before realizing their mistake and attacking me.” Garo Link said.
“Ah, I see.” Garo Master Nabooru said.
“We should line up then.” Garo Zelda said with a chuckle.
Garo Saria and Garo Ruto both giggled as they stood next to Garo Link and Garo Zelda.
“Alright then. Your orders are simple; stick around here and gather intelligence as best as you can. Link, you know this temple by now, at least part of it; you, Saria and Zelda should be able to get most what we need. Ruto and I will go the other way, but keep in touch and report back to me the minute you have some valuable information.” Garo Master Nabooru said.
“Yes ma’am.” Garo Link, Zelda and Saria said in unison before moving off.
“We’ll be moving around as well to ensure everything goes as planned.” Impa said, letting herself and her escort sink back in her shadow to hide.
The five reformed Garo Ninjas then went on their way, moving back to the Colossus Room from where they would split up and execute their mission.

Darunia looked up when he heard another set of footsteps coming his way, but this time it was a single set. He got up, his arms at his side, ready to defend himself.
“Relax, Darunia, it’s me, Rauru.” A male voice then said, right before Rauru himself walked in the room.
Seeing this, Darunia did stand down right away.
“You’ve been gone for some time.” Darunia said.
“I know. It wasn’t easy, but I managed to retrieve the rest of our friends’ equipment as well as having the information that we need to resurrect them.” Rauru replied.
“You have?”
“Yes. I was told about Venus, the Queen of the Fairies, whom currently resides on an island somewhere off the Great Bay area. If we go to her, perhaps she can help in resurrecting them.”
“I see. How do we even get there?”
“We’ll discuss that once we’re underway. By the way, where is Impa?”
“Impa needed some time by herself after the realization that by weakening us, the Master Sword lost part of its power and through that Ganondorf was only wounded, not killed by Link’s hand. Which in turn allowed Ganondorf to deal the deathblow to him and his best friends… she hasn’t returned for some time now. Then again, I was too focused on keeping this shrine safe to keep proper track of her movements. About half an hour ago, a group of Stalfos came here and attacked. I decimated them all, but…”
“Wait, you fought a group of Stalfos here?! How did they get here?!” Rauru asked, appalled.
“My best guess is that they must have followed a trail or something we unwittingly may have left behind while carrying the bodies of our friends to here. It could be residue from fresh injuries or their clothes had soaked up a big portion of the water from the pond they fell in.” Darunia said.
“This is most unfortunate. This all but increases the haste for us to move out before they return with reinforcements.”
“I decimated every Stalfos that came in here, so no one escaped. However, this does not rule out the possibility of others following that trail.”
“Right. First, we need to get our friends out from their grave here, so we can take them with us.”
“How are we going to do that without their bodies decomposing underway?”
“Leave that to me.” Rauru said.
Darunia shrugged and went to work to carefully breaking the ice wall around the group, using his Fire Sage abilities to actually weld a slab of ice out of the wall to keep the bodies sealed within the ice, which eventually resulted in a large ice block that contained the five bodies in. Rauru then invoked his own powers to seal the ice block in a blue crystal to keep the cold inside, before that crystal was magically shrunken down to the size of a large Rupee, which Rauru pocketed for the time being.
“Through this we can carry their bodies with us, yet have our hands free in case we need our powers for combat underway.” Rauru said.
Darunia nodded.
“Now we need to find Impa and let her come and join us.” He said.
Rauru concentrated as if he was trying to locate her.
“I have sensed that Impa has been invoking her Shadow Medallion for her own purpose. I just need to pinpoint her location as she was constantly on the move before…” Rauru said.
Darunia nodded, before seeing Navi waking up and flying to him.
“I found her; she’s at the Spirit Temple in the Desert Colossus, past Gerudo Valley.” Rauru said after several minutes.
“What?! Why would Impa be all the way there?” Darunia asked.
“We’ll find out once we get there. Let’s go.” Rauru said as he turned to leave. Darunia and Navi followed suit.