The Legend of Zelda - Union of Evil Powers Ch 2

The Legend of Zelda: Union of Evil Powers

Chapter 2: Ikana’s Hero and Sages

Deep inside an unknown cavern area, of which nobody knows... the area itself is dark and moist... most of the rooms are littered with different kinds of spider webs and Skulltulas and Skullwalltulas are present over the area, waiting for a potential victim to pounce onto... One of the rooms however is empty and seemingly void of any arachnid presence, save for the giant orb web hanging diagonally across the for the rest empty room which is only partially visible from the light which two lit torches at the door leading out of the room give off. Several items are scattered over the floor, including two bows, a basic sword and shield, a dual scimitar sword, some arrows, a bluish Ocarina and three gemstones... the Sacred Stones needed to open the sacred Door of Time... the Kokiri's Emerald... the Goron's Ruby and the Zora's Sapphire... fortunately in one piece... moving to the orb web, five figures are seen suspended in the web itself... the silhouettes of four children and an adult woman... each of them out cold, but stirring as they are about to wake up! Link groaned as he woke up from a long time of unconsciousness, Saria let out a moan.
“Who saw that horse that threw me off?!” She asked.
Zelda grunted and shook her head a bit.
“My head…” Link said.
“Link, are you alright?” Saria asked.
“Aside from feeling to have the Megaton Hammer smashed on my skull, I'm okay.” Link said.
“What's this?! I can't move a muscle!” Zelda exclaimed.
“ Neither can I... and there's an annoying sticky itch around my skin!” Nabooru said.
“ Same here!” Ruto said.
“Hold it...” Link said, before he scanned the area, trying to figure out things by means of the torches.
“ What is it?” Saria asked.
“ Just our luck, we've fallen into a giant spider's web. I've seen more than enough of these in my travels in and Hyrule and Termina both.” Link said with a groan.
"A giant spider's web?!" Saria asked.
"Where are we? Last time I checked we hid inside one of those secret holes near the castle..." Zelda said.
"That's correct, but that frigging Like-Like swallowed all of us up like we were a nice treat. I'm surprised we managed to retain most of our equipment here." Link said.
"I believe some kind of magic made that creature appear." Zelda said.
"It obviously has to be Majora..." Link muttered.
"We should get out of here and find out where exactly we are, before we can think of finding a way back." Nabooru said.
"Great idea, we should find a way to get out of this web first; otherwise, whoever has made this, will make a five-course meal out of us." Ruto said.

Link, Saria, Zelda, Ruto and Nabooru struggle a bit, pulling themselves forward to get out of the web. They succeed, but fall on the ground with a *THUD*, although neither of them is injured. After getting up and dusting themselves off, they moved closer to the light from the torches to see their equipment better.
"Alright. We should first settle up our equipment first, before we go. I'm sure that we'll have to face Skulltulas around here." Link said as he grabbed and equipped his Hero Sword, Hero Shield and Hero Bow with 10 Arrows.
Saria took her Fairy Slingshot and a few Deku Nuts, while Zelda grabbed her own Bow and Arrows. Ruto didn't have weapons, but she, like the other sages, could use magic as an offensive weapon, while Nabooru grabbed her Dual Sword, twirling them around to get the feel of them again. Link, Saria and Zelda also grabbed their respective Ocarinas, with Zelda possessing the Ocarina of Time, while Link, Saria and Ruto also secure the Spiritual Stones of Fire, Forest and Water respectively.
"Link, do you have any magic attacks?" Zelda asked.
"Of course I remember the Spin Attack, using the bluish glow on my sword for an area of effect spin attack." Link said, smiling.
"Good." Zelda said.
“Alright, let's get out of here.” Link said as he opens the door and he and his four friends go through, before it closes behind them…

The group looks around once outside the room containing the web they fell in. They can see several breakable boxes around, along with numerous spider webs on the walls and the ceiling. Several Skulltulas and Skullwalltulas, the latter recognizable with the ominous scraping sounds, are present, but have not detected the heroes' presence yet. A big chest stands in the path to the right, while a small chest stands to the left, flanked by a few grass polls which could be sliced with the sword.
“The atmosphere feels warm and moist here.” Zelda said.
“I agree. I feel like we’re quite a long way from home.” Nabooru said.
“ I am pretty sure this is Majora's doing. Only he would be sadistic enough, to send us into a place like this.” Link said, being serious.
“And it's all because of that strange mask he wears?” Saria asked, to which Link nodded.
“And there’s a lot more where that came from; he could practically place a curse on ANYONE he sees fit.” Link said, recalling his own experience from encounters with the eponymous mask during his travels in Termina.
“I've heard about Majora and it's giving me the creeps ever since, now we know what he is capable of… and now that he could be working together with Ganondorf…” Zelda said, shivering.
“We should get going,” Nabooru said, “the sooner we’re out of this place, the better. After all, there’s no use in hanging around this dank place unless we need shelter.”
“True that. Besides, we should try to find the others first…” Ruto said, while Link went to the chest to open it up…
“Hm, this is weird; someone actually left a map of this place here.” Link said, grabbing the paper out of the chest.
“You found a map?” Saria asked, walking to him with the others in tow.
“ Yes. Perhaps this should give us an insight on where we are in this place and see if we can find a way out, or in any case where we have to go.” Link said.
“At least it’s something. There’s a torch at this corner, Link. We should study the map there.” Zelda said.
“Thank you, Zelda.” Link said with a smile, moving to the torch and lies down to study the map under the light from it, with Saria, Zelda, Ruto and Nabooru joining him.
“Alright, so where are we?” Saria asked.
“I can't pinpoint the exact location of where we exactly are, considering we fell in perhaps a random room. I do see that there's a total of three floors in this area, with each floor having a total of four rooms or so.” Link said.
“At least it tells us which rooms there are, so we may be able to expect what they look like regarding size, but not what they contain.” Nabooru said.
“True. Why does Majora has to be so sadistic...” Ruto said, shivering a bit.
“He's like a big baby when I first fought him; it all seemed like a game to him. I'm sure that this will be his game of vengeance.” Link said.
“And add Ganondorf’s cruelty to that… they obviously want to have us as far away from them for now so they can prepare their fort…” Zelda added.
“You think this is only stage one of their plan?” Saria asked.
“More than that; I believe that this is only the beginning…” Zelda said, as the group got up to continue exploring the area.

As the group moved on to explore the area, moving down what appeared to be a wooden bridge moving downwards like a smooth stairway, they entered the second room up ahead, which contained some high grasses and a Big Skulltula in the center of the room, the Skulltula hanging from its web on the ceiling. Link stuns the Skulltula with a Deku Nut, allowing Nabooru to circle behind it and kill it with her Dual Swords.
“All too easy.” Nabooru said with a smirk, happy to be able to kick ass after the initial debacle involving Ganondorf, at which she was brainwashed by the witches Koume and Kotake…
Ruto looked further ahead, seeing a door up ahead.
“I wonder who could have used this place as a hideout, considering the door up ahead.” She said.
“Probably bandits, travelers, smugglers or thieves…” Link mused as Saria walked to a chest to open it.
“You’re right, Link; I’ve found a few weapons and ammunition in this chest.” She said as she got out a few short swords and some arrows and slingshot bullets, as well as Deku Nuts.
“Hm. A few swords appear corroded, perhaps this place was abandoned for some time.” Nabooru said, moving in to check it as well.
“Take the ones with the least corrosion on it. Perhaps we can salvage it for better equipment later.” Zelda said, at which Nabooru nodded.
Once everyone was equipped with additional weapons and ammo where needed, they proceeded to the next room…

“It's awfully dark in here…” Zelda said as they entered the room, which held no torches whatsoever.
As the group walks on, they discover that the room itself is empty, with only the ambient sounds of the occasional water drop and the breathing of the five being the sounds whatsoever.
“What gives?!” Ruto said, scratching her head.
“It’s not a dead end, is it?” Saria asked, blinking as the group wandered into the center of the room.
Just as Link wanted to answer, the group felt the floor cracking underneath their feet, causing them to stagger as parts of the floor broke up a bit. A few seconds later, before the group could even react, the center part of the floor collapsed, sending the entire group falling to the ground, landing on another giant spider's web which fortunately broke their fall, although a second cobweb at the bottom halts their progress.
“Whew. There are times that I am glad that there are webs around.” Nabooru said, sighing of relief.
“Don't get used to it, though.” Ruto said, removing some silk from her fins.
“At least we can continue…” Saria said as Link entered the room, spotting a Deku Scrub hiding in the center of the room, with a few Withered Deku Babas surrounding it.
Zelda frowned.
“Deku actually live here? Or is it one of the last occupants here?” She asked.
“I have no idea. Perhaps it may know some more…” Link said.
The group swiftly takes out the Deku Babas, each gaining a Deku Stick in the process, while Link also sends the attack of the Deku Scrub back at him by using his Shield. Immediately the Scrub tries to escape after being hit, but Zelda confronts it.
“Please, miss! I'll never do it again! If I give you some advice, will you let me go?” The Deku Scrub pleaded.
“Alright, spill it.” Zelda said.
“I overheard this: While most enemies can be beaten easily in a group, some of the more tougher ones require more power and may need to be faced with a fighter of the same caliber. That's all I can tell you.” It said, before it left.
“I wonder what he means by that…” Link said.
“Same here… and he hasn’t told us where we are…” Ruto said, crossing her arms.
“Looks like we’ll have to find that out by ourselves then.” Nabooru said as the group continued on to the next room.

The next room had a few torches lighting up the area, as well as several big puddles of water. Right away, Link got some water between his hands to take a sip of it.
“Hm, the water’s fresh here.” He said, taking another sip to lessen his thirst. The others took a drink as well, while Link went to a different puddle to throw some water in his face to refresh himself.
“Maybe not as efficient when taking a bath or standing under a soft waterfall, but it’ll have to do.” He said, smiling.
Saria and Zelda both giggled as they too refreshed themselves, while Ruto took another sip and Nabooru herself looked around the room.
“There’s a few more Skulltulas around, but they’re not that much of importance so far.” She noted.
“Leave them be then. We could use the Deku Stick here to burn the web we saw earlier.” Link said, opting to conserve ammunition.
“Right.” Ruto said, taking the Deku stick and lit it up against one of the torches, moving it with it rapidly towards the web before the stick would burn out.

After burning the web, Ruto extinguished the stick to conserve it.
“I can hardly see a thing down there!” She said after peeking down the hole.
“Do you think it contains anything?” Nabooru asked.
“Only one way to find out...” Link said, before he jumps down the hole, “WHOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAA!!!”
“YYAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!” Saria yelled as she jumped down the hole as well, shortly followed by Zelda, Ruto and Nabooru.
The five land inside a small pond of water, being similar to the pond inside the Big Deku Tree, before facing Gohma. Ahead were two more Skulltulas, blocking the exit, only for the Skulltulas to be taken down by Saria and Zelda.
“Is it me, or is it getting warmer here?” Ruto asked.
“It is warmer here… and I can think of only two places with such heat around…” Link said, gulping a bit as he got out of the water to exit the cavern, being nervous…

As they went outside, they arrived at a barren canyon, mostly void of vegetation and hardly has any shade from the Sun.
“What is this place? This isn't like Death Mountain at all!” Zelda exclaimed.
“No, it isn't. But I know this place...” Link said, feeling his suspicions having come true.
“What is it?” Saria asked.
“We're in Ikana Canyon, one of the most inhospitable areas in Termina. And from what I can see, we're actually on a ledge close to where I entered the Stone Temple when I had to deal with Majora for the first time.” Link said.
“And now Majora has sent us here?!” Nabooru asked, blinking as Zelda looked around in horror, having heard of the dark and bloody history of the Ikana Kingdom.
“Yes. He obviously wants to make it very hard for us to get all the way back to Hyrule. I'm sure that he is looking forward to see a ReDead feasting on our corpses.” Link said, pointing to a ledge where two ReDeads were standing like statues.
The four Sages gulped at that; just like Link, they knew all too well what a ReDead was capable of. Thankfully, their previous encounters were made out alive, with only the ReDead being... re-dead.
“There is no way I will let it come that far, but I need your help in order to make it through.” Link said.
“We know, Link. We need you as much as you need us. Co-operation is the only way to survive through all this.” Zelda said, nodding as she put a hand on Link’s shoulder, understanding his feelings of upcoming trouble.
“Otherwise, everything will be lost.” Saria said, shivering a bit.
“Alright, where do we go from here?” Nabooru asked.
“I'm sure we need to traverse the Stone Temple to get some specific items we need. But the last time I went in there, I had situations where things were LITERALLY upside down. I’ll tell you all about it once we’re in a more hospitable area.” Link said.
Zelda saw the reason in this.
“So, where do we have to go?” Ruto asked.
“The only place I can think of is to get out of Ikana Canyon and head into Clock Town. We could rent a room at the inn I’ve stayed in before and from there we could rest up a bit and plan our actions further on.” Link said.
The girls nodded, ready to follow, when suddenly the platform they stood on began to shake and rumble.
“Huh?! What’s going on?!” Saria asked.
Just then, the entire platform crumbles, sending the five heroes down to the ground falling, landing on the path leading to the entrance of the Stone Tower roughly.
“Ouch…. My.... legs....” Link said, whimpering a bit at the pain as his knees were opened up from the landing, bleeding.
“Curse you... Majora...” Zelda said, holding her right arm.
Nabooru’s landing was somewhat the most ‘gentle’; having landed on her hands and knees effectively provided her with the least amount of injury, although she was bleeding like the four children as they tried to get up. She helped the children up, showing that they hadn’t broken anything yet, although Link and Saria were limping a bit, Link even more than Saria. Saria and Zelda decided to support Link, which in turn eased Saria’s limping as well as the group traveled down the path towards Ikana River.

The trip through Ikana Canyon wasn’t exactly a walk in the park. Although the group used the Ikana River to clean their injuries, there was still the horrid conditions that Ikana was having, primarily the lack of vegetation and the high temperatures.
“I can see why people avoid this place like the plague; it’s practically unbearable out here! Not even the Gerudo Desert and the Haunted Wastelands are this bad!” Nabooru said.
“Is there any place we can find shelter for the time being?!” Ruto asked, wiping sweat from her forehead.
“The only place… I can think of is the Ikana Castle to our left. It should be abandoned for the most part now…” Link said.
“We should make a virtue of necessity and move in the castle. Otherwise we’ll end up having a stroke.” Zelda said, nodding as the five changed course, entering the castle through the alternate entrance that Link had made before.

Upon entering the castle, the five noted that it was indeed empty, allowing them to proceed to the empty throne room with ease… or what they believe was an empty throne room...
“Whew, at least we have some shelter from the sun for now…” Saria said, sighing as she sat down on the stairway leading to the empty throne with the others.
“I agree, Saria.” Link said, while Zelda went to nurse Link’s legs.
“Well, what do I owe this visit?” A crackling voice then was heard from behind the group, startling them.
As they turned around, the five saw a floating and talking Skull. Saria, Zelda, Nabooru and Ruto are frightened and stand close to Link, while Link blinked as he noticed the skull.
“Who are you? You’re familiar somehow…” Link said.
“Do not be afraid as I will not bring you harm. Allow me to introduce myself, although the young man is more familiar to me... I am Igos du Ikana, formerly King of the Ikana Kingdom.” The skull said.
“You know Link?” Zelda asked, blinking.
“Oh, yes; the brave little man has brought light to my fallen kingdom. We perished during a great war that our kingdom was involved in against the Garo Tribe. We would have been laid to rest earlier, had it not been for the person who opened the doors of the Stone Tower. I'm still amazed that this brave little man was able to lift the curse from us and sealed the doors of the Stone Tower. But it seems that disaster is about to strike again.” Igos du Ikana said.
“Can you tell us more about what's going on?” Link asked.
“We have felt an ominous presence deep within the lands of the Kingdom of Hyrule. I do not have an idea of what has caused it, but it appears to affect the areas here again, as if another wind of darkness is about to blow.” Igos replied.
“From what we can feel, it appears that Majora, the one responsible for opening the Stone Tower, has allied himself with Ganondorf, the King of Evil, freeing him from the seal we placed on him to keep him away from our lands.” Zelda said.
“Hmmm, that explains why we could feel that wave of darkness all the way from here, but so far Hyrule has been the worst affected area. However, I must question your presence here…”
“Majora has transported into this area using his magic. I assume he has regained possession of the eponymous mask that grants him such powers, complete with being able to place curses on anyone seen fit.” Link said.
“We’re in fact moving towards Clock Town, but decided to hide here for now because of the heat out here.” Saria said.
“I understand. This forsaken land indeed remains plagued by its harsh conditions. You should rest up and move at dusk, it should be a lot cooler then.” Igos said.
“Thank you.” Zelda said, smiling.
“Just be careful on your way out though, there may be still some fiends around that will try to attack you.” Igos said, before he vanished.

A few hours passed after the five entered the castle, using the time to nurse each other’s wounds and rest up from the hectic event. As dusk approached, the group went to head out again, indeed finding the temperature much more comfortable.
“Hopefully we should be able to reach Termina Field by late in the evening.” Link said as the group walked out of the castle.
“I hope we still have time to get ourselves a room from that inn, though.” Saria said.
“Same here. Otherwise we’ll need to locate a grotto or something where we can safely spend the night in.” Link said.
“As long as we’re out of the reach of the enemies, I’m fine with it.” Ruto said as the group approached the edge of the cliff that separated Ikana Canyon from its valley, the river moving down at the base. Leaping in the water and reaching the ladder on the other side, the group climbed their way up before moving into Ikana Valley.