The Legend of Sunset Shimmer: Majora's Mask
By Ganondorf8
March 13, 2017
Chapter 48: Cursed Houses.
If there was one thing I could be happy about regarding having so many different tasks, it would be that none of them related to having to overcome incredible odds and my life being on the line--those cursed houses might have some challenge to them given the word "curse" was being used. Instead, the only real challenge involved doing them without screwing any up and helping out whomever was in need of assistance. Still, having roughly six different tasks piled onto me wasn't my idea of getting new masks and better versions of equipment I was already carrying, but it seemed I didn't have much of a choice if I wanted them.
Multi-tasking was something I could do fairly well though not without mistakes. I am reminded of what happened when I tried doing too much all at once before the holiday season as a means of showing how much friendship had changed my life. Okay, in my defence at the time, I believed I could handle everything regarding the fundraiser Rainbow Dash wanted so Canterlot High could get new uniforms to be used for the Friendship Games--we never used them in the end. It all sounded so simple, I wanted to help my friends with each of their appointed tasks that focused on the fundraiser, and I ended up causing more harm than good.
Had Princess Twilight not given me the encouragement I needed to sort everything out, the fundraiser would have been an absolute disaster and I'd have believed myself to be incapable of being in charge of anything. What happened to me back then is similar to what I was going through right now, except that I was helping complete strangers despite some resembling those I've come to know from back home, and also helping myself as I would benefit the most by acquiring items aimed at bringing about a peaceful solution to what was falling down from on high.
At that moment, I realized that I was starting to daydream again, and that meant an eventual bopping on the head by Her Highness to snap me out of it. Knowing that was most likely to happen, I walked down the path into South Clock Town, and sat down on a nearby bench before looking up at a clock that was hanging on the wall. Despite how bizarre the clock looked--it reminded me of a sundial--it was easy to figure out what time it was--it had just gone past 8:00am--so I knew I could sit down for a while and plan my next move.
Staying in town would allow me to begin searching for that person Troubleshoes wants me to find and I could also help out Miss Pommel at the Milk Bar now that I could change between four different forms, but then the latter could only be done at night and the former heralded no leads unless I were to use Kafei's Mask and ask around in hopes someone would have something. While I had an infinite number of three day cycles, I didn't want to appear to be wasting them. Then again, there was the Song of Double Time I could use to speed things up but again I would be wasting time by skipping it entirely.
Outside of town were those cursed houses and I knew those would be time consuming, but what if I were to take too long and end up missing something important that would happen back here? Technically, I needed to thwart Lightning Dust again so that I could acquire that one expensive mask Iron Will has at his shop so there was an example right there. I also needed to pay the Gorman Sisters a visit and get the mask they had to gain access to the final region of Termina.
And there were two more things I needed to do that Princess Twilight didn't think of. I could gather up those five frogs--it would mean defeating both Geckos and Goht to bring forth spring in Snowhead--and have them perform their song, and I needed to make my sword the strongest it could be--again that required defeating Goht. The more I thought about what I was going to do, the more I was feeling miserable about it. My heart wanted all of this to be done within the span of a single three day cycle yet my brain knew it would take two or even three cycles since it was impossible for me to be in so many places at once.
" Is something bothering you, Sunset?" Twilight asked.
" I just can't decide on what we should tackle next." I answered.
Princess Twilight floated over and landed on my shoulder. " I can tell that you've been wracking your brain over it since sitting down on that bench. I know we have a lot of things we can do right now to prepare for the final region but you shouldn't think about trying to handle them all at once. Overexerting yourself will only lead to stress and you clearly don't have much of that."
I frowned. " Thanks for the confidence boost, Twilight."
" What I mean is that you lose your temper relatively quickly and trying to do so much is only fueling that anger deep inside."
" Then what should I do?"
" Focus on one task at a time." Twilight answered. " Focus on what you deem is the most important and stick with it until it's done, and then you can move onto the next one and repeat the process until you've accomplished everything you wanted to do."
" I want to get everything done in one cycle and not waste time."
Princess Twilight shook her head. " Sorry, Sunset, but doing it like that will only end up hurting you. It may sound cynical coming from me but you need to take advantage of the fact that we have an infinite number of times to relive the same three days over and over, and not worry about wasting time since we practically have forever. We were given this ability to use to save the people of this world and sometimes that involves giving off the impression that we're not using what we have effectively. Does that make any sense?"
I shook my head. " Not at all."
Princess Twilight sighed. " Okay, think about it like this. These tasks you have on your plate are mostly simple in execution despite not knowing the entirety of what it is you need to do to solve them. Wanting to take care of all of them during one cycle is foolish thinking and you know it. You need to dedicate two or maybe even three cycles if you want to get them all done and save yourself from losing both your sanity and health. In the end, you have to make the decision, Sunset, and all I can do is provide advice."
Her Highness was once again correct. I was viewing our ability to relive the same three days as a form of magic and believed that abusing such power would be the same as abusing magic--something I had committed plenty of times during my childhood. I should be thinking of our ability as a blessing designed to help those in need even when my efforts would end up being forgotten due to them forgetting as their memories are erased from their minds upon resetting time.
It was then I recalled what Princess Zelda said when I had that vision of her in my own memories when I first got the Ocarina of Time back--I'm surprised that I still remember that despite thinking about it now after so long--from Starlight Glimmer. She told me that so long as the Goddess of Time could hear my call, she would allow me to relive the same three days over and over until I had figured out a means to prevent destruction from occurring. Why was it that it took Her Highness to figure this kind of thing out while I kept on giving myself nothing but stress?
Perhaps she should have been the one destined to be the hero and me be her fairy partner? I was doing all of the grunt work yet she was the one figuring things out--I had my share of successes in this regard--making her a much better candidate, but fate had chosen me to be the one instead. Despite Princess Twilight's own assurance that I was the better candidate and not her, my heart still felt otherwise. And yet, the Triforce of Courage was still inside of my body, and was a reminder that I had been chosen by destiny to carry a burden no one should ever have to bear.
" Okay... I know better than to argue with you."
" It's not so much arguing than me being honest."
" I suppose."
" What shall we tackle next?" Twilight asked. " We've gotten a mask and a larger quiver, a good start, but perhaps you might want to consider getting an even larger quiver? Or how about a bigger Bomb Bag? Maybe even a bigger wallet?"
My eyes lit up at the prospect of getting an even bigger wallet. " I'm going to go for the last thing you said."
" The bigger wallet?"
I nodded my head. " I could use more rupees to purchase items apart from that mask Iron Will will eventually sell."
" Adagio said that you need to go to those cursed houses in order to get both a mask and more wealth." Twilight said. " A shame that she didn't specify which house has what reward but I suppose this was her intention. She wants you to figure it out on your own by going to both locations and seeing what you can do. The cursed house in Great Bay is on the beach and is therefore easy to get to by playing the Song of Soaring. Getting to the other one will require some leg-work as the Owl Statues in Woodfall aren't located near it."
I recalled the strange building in the swamp whose entrance was blocked by a cobweb but never thought much of it until now. Was that one of the cursed houses Adagio mentioned through her cryptic words? It didn't look like any house I had seen but perhaps the detail could be found inside. To get there would mean either walking through the poisonous swamp or flying over it by using Deku Flowers and avoiding monsters. The other location was much easier to reach since it merely involved swimming to the beach yet I'd need to avoid the underwater monsters that plagued the ocean.
In any case, I knew where I was going to go. Getting up off the bench, I took out the Ocarina of Time, played the Song of Soaring, and desired to be taken to the Owl Statue that was located by the Oceanside Laboratory. Wings then protruded from my back, wrapped themselves around my body, and whisked me away where I found myself at my desired location roughly ten seconds later. It actually felt weird coming back to Great Bay so soon especially knowing that everything had gone back to the way it was before but I couldn't allow myself to be distracted by sentimentalities.
My first thought was to shoot Pinkie Pie down--she was floating above me-- by popping her balloon with an arrow to see if she had anything to say but chose not to as she was likely to repeat information I had heard before or would simply tell me to go over to the cursed house and find out for myself. My next though involved using the Zora Mask and swim over in spectacular fashion as Mikau but again I chose not to. The underwater monsters were easy to outswim since they consisted of just Like-Likes and Skullfish and it wasn't that far to the beach so all I'd be doing was wasting a transformation on something simple.
Jumping into the water, I began swimming though I struggled at first because of the weight of my equipment dragging me down--the one drawback of having so many items meant having to put extra effort into ensuring I didn't drown--but by swimming at a constant pace, I was able to make it to the beach where I discovered that Epona was still over by the house that Snails resided in. My assumption was that she would be back at Romani Ranch whenever time reset but perhaps she wasn't affected by it given the strong bond she had with me and was here instead.
This was actually a blessing as it meant I now knew which house was the one I needed to visit--both looked practically identical and I had no need to visit Snails since I had already helped him out during the previous cycle. Running across the beach and avoiding Leevers as they came out of the ground, I reached both houses and immediately went to check on Epona as she might have been worried about me as it had been some time since I left her by Snail's house. She whinnied happily at me and I responded in kind, tears trickling down my cheek, my head pressed up against hers, before petting her muzzle.
After whinnying to inform her that I would be checking out the other house, I began to walk over to it when a voice suddenly stopped me. " You're not planning on going in there are you?" I turned around and saw Snails standing in front of his doorway, hands on his hips and with a stern look on his face. " I was wondering who that horse belonged to seeing it suddenly showed up on my front doorstep. Not sure why you left it here but you need to be more careful. I was seriously thinking of taking it into town and seeing if I could sell it for some rupees so that I could eventually get myself a boat."
I looked at Epona and then back at him. " I didn't mean to leave my horse here but this was the only spot on the beach where she could chew on some grass and avoid the monsters that come out of the sand."
" Say no more then." Snails said. " Those blasted Leevers have been a blight for everyone who travels across the beach. Not sure where why they suddenly decided to show up now all of a sudden but I think it has something to do with the water getting warmer around here as of late."
I was going to explain that I had solved that issue but quickly remembered that everything had been reset. " You said that I shouldn't go into that house over there?"
Snails nodded. " That house has been abandoned for years ever since those golden spiders first started infesting it." His words reminded me of what Adagio said about golden creatures that plagued both locations. " Nobody dares set foot in that place because those creepy crawlies are too powerful and have the ability to curse anyone who goes inside. If you want my advice, girl, you'd go somewhere else."
" I plan on destroying those creatures."
" Really? Well, you do have that sword on your back."
" Do you doubt my skill?"
" Not at all. It's just that those spiders could end up cursing you into becoming one of them."
I gulped. " Did you say... one of them?"
Snails nodded. " That's what I said. I have a friend who wanted to go in there and claim it as a shelter because of some nonsense he was babbling about. Says the moon is going to fall in three days but he's just full of hot air if he thinks that's a true story. Not sure why he would want to spend his time in that infestation."
" Why doesn't he just stay with you?"
" Ha! With that giant wallet he had on him, he could buy his own place!"
Now I knew that I would earn more wealth by destroying the golden spiders of this particular house yet I wasn't sure as to how much time I had. I mean, I had three days before having to reset time again but what I didn't know was how long Snails' friend would be willing to wait to claim the place. There was also some other things about the cursed house that I didn't know about, such as how big it was, how many golden spiders resided within, what items were best suited to handle an infestation. Finally, since Snails said it had been abandoned for a long time, who knew when it could collapse from neglect.
I had to ask about his friend. " When do you think he'll be back?"
" He says he wants to claim the place as soon as possible."
" That would mean destroying the spiders first."
" No one is daft enough to try."
" I'll do it."
" You've got guts, girl, I'll give you that." Snails said. " I suppose there's no chance of me trying to convince not to go in there, am I right?" I nodded my head slowly and he sighed in response. " Well, don't come complaining to me that you've been cursed by those spiders, but I suppose you would be doing my friend a big favour if you get rid of them all, and he might give you that wallet of his. Good luck!" Snails then turned around, walked into his house and disappeared leaving me to ponder what he said about being cursed by the golden spiders.
" He was cheerful wasn't he?" Twilight asked.
" What do you make of this whole cursed business?"
Princess Twilight sighed. " For a long time, Sunset, I believed that curses were just superstition and that there was a logical explanation behind unusual occurrences. Ever since that one incident in Equestria where the pony versions of our friends and I were infected by Poison Joke, I take any and all curses very seriously. If Snails says these spiders are capable of cursing you, I suggest being extra cautious and leave at the first sign of something happening to your body."
I gulped again knowing that there was a huge risk involved wanting a much larger wallet. Since I needed to get my hands on it in order to purchase that one mask, I had no other choice but to go inside and hope I didn't end up changing into some kind of hideous monster--for the second time since I already did so once before. On another note, did she actually say that she was cursed by Poison Joke? Wow... I never thought anyone would be cursed by that stuff. It was one of the first lessons Princess Celestia taught me about though I wasn't what you'd call thrilled since back then I believed it was a waste of my time learning about Poison Joke.
Walking into the cursed house, I immediately got startled by the sounds of what appeared to be scratches along the walls, a sign that this place must have been crawling with the golden spiders--a nearby sign told me that this placed was called Oceanside Spider House. The noises made me want to run away and not bother getting the wallet Snails' friend had on him but I had to go through with it in order to collect the mask Iron Will had. No one ever said adventures were easy and this was especially true now.
The pathway ahead of me was blocked by a cracked wall and I quickly realized that I had no arrows, bombs, or the like due to not scrounging about in Termina Field. While I did have an alternative to the bomb issue, I hoped there were arrows further inside. Taking out the Blast Mask and placing it on my face, I walked up to the cracked wall, raised my shield and detonated it, destroying the wall and revealing a sloped path downward with a pair of golden spiders scurrying about back and forth. They looked just like those tiny spiders I encountered many times during my previous journey, except they were gold instead of white.
Since I had no arrows, I resorted to using my Hookshot instead. Aiming at each one and firing the chain, I connected both times, destroying the golden spiders, yet they left behind strange tokens that glowed in an eerie golden light that resembled skulls--they did look adorable though in that sense. Was I supposed to somehow grab them out of the air or could the Hookshot be used to pull them towards me? I decided to go with the latter option as the other one wasn't all that viable--the slope was pretty steep.
Firing the chain, it pulled each token towards me, entering my body and disappearing leaving me to wonder if I had just done the right thing. I also sensed no scratching sounds so perhaps there were no more of them within the complex or perhaps the current room. There was no telling how many lurked further inside yet they needed to be destroyed so I slid down the slope making sure I didn't tumble and soon I found myself staring at an ancient looking fence with a door on the other side. Above the door was a Hookshot plate and upon firing the chain, I pulled myself over the fence to the other side.
" Don't go through the door!"
" Why not?" I asked. " If I don't then I can't continue on."
" I can hear another one of those spiders coming from above."
I looked up and could see one hiding behind some cobwebs. " And here I am without any arrows."
" Try smashing those pots in front of you." Twilight said.
I looked down and saw several pots lined up against the wall so I smashed each one using the Hookshot--not what I would call economical--and acquired some much needed arrows from each of them. " I still have plenty of magic power." I said switching out for the Hero's Bow with Fire Arrows equipped. " I'm actually thankful that this one isn't moving otherwise I'd be wasting arrows." Firing a single arrow and destroying the golden spider--it left behind a token--I switched back to the Hookshot and fired the chain, pulling the token towards me where it entered my body like the others had done. " What are those tokens I keep on getting?"
" They aren't really tokens so much as they are spirits."
" What!?"
" These creatures are called Gold Skulltulas." Twilight said. " While they look beautiful because of their colouring, they are very deadly to the touch and are quite resilient. If you destroy one, it leaves a spirit token behind as proof that you destroyed it, so be sure to collect them. I am sensing there are still twenty-seven more left."
That number wasn't very reassuring at all but then I suspected this wasn't going to be an easy task. Walking back over to the door, I noticed that it had a spider motif--a sign of what awaited on the other side--yet it couldn't stop me from going further. Opening the door and entering the next room, I was surprised upon seeing cobwebs everywhere blocking other doors, covering large pots, dangling from the walls and so on. Then there were those scratching noises, now louder than ever, from the Gold Skulltulas, and I could even see them scurrying around all over the place.
" No wonder this place was abandoned." I said as I fired a Fire Arrow at the cobweb blocking a door to my left, burning it to ashes. " This place is practically an infestation for those creatures."
" We need to search everywhere and everything to find them all."
" Will you inform me as to how many I have?"
Princess Twilight nodded. " Of course. Remember, you'll know that there are no more spiders in a room if you don't hear the scratching noises. In fact, I can see one right now scurrying up and down that wall over there and using that ornament as a hiding place."
I looked to see what Her Highness was on about and sure enough, there was a Gold Skulltula moving up and down on the wall. A well-timed Hookshot strike following by another one gave me a fourth token though I knew I had a long way to go. The sound of another one could then be heard above me so I looked up and saw it crawling along a support beam. Again, two shots were all it took, one to destroy the spider and one to acquire its proof, giving me five. From there, I walked across the room before coming upon some barrels that looked suspicious--one was covered with cobwebs telling me that it was suspicious.
Firing another Fire Arrow and melting the cobweb, I walked over to the pot and tried to see if I could tip it over--it was stuck firmly in place--or break it--it was too big--so that left me with only one option. I hadn't rolled into much since starting this journey yet it appeared it was going to be a requirement around here. I rolled into the pot and a Gold Skulltula jumped out surprising me in the process--I also bruised my head from hitting the pot--before landing a short distance away. It didn't scurry away or anything but instead just rotated around back and forth, but since I didn't want to take a risk, I slashed it with my sword.
It took two hits to destroy the spider and it gave me the sixth token upon its destruction. I was about to go down the stairs to see if there were any more scurrying about when the corner of my eye noticed something. I could barely see something crawling out from the pot furthest at the end of where I had rolled into the previous one so I took a few steps back, rolled into this pot, and another Gold Skulltula came out, landing on the floor a short distance away. Slashing it with my sword and destroying it, it left behind another token that I eagerly picked up, giving me seven of out thirty.
" You have twenty-three left to find now, Sunset."
" Should I go downstairs to see if there any scurrying about down there?"
" I suggest trying that room that was covered by the cobwebs."
" Fair enough."
" Remember to keep your eyes and ears open for them."
Walking back to the door I used to enter the room from and turning right, I opened up the other door and entered the next room that comprised of a library. Most of the books on the shelves were old and some looked like they were about to fall apart, yet Princess Twilight flew about, eager to look at every last book--her love for books was adorable to look at though also inappropriate given our task. Almost immediately, I could hear the sounds of spiders scurrying about, yet I couldn't see any. Perhaps they were hiding more carefully so as to not be so easily discovered.
Once Her Highness had gotten her fill of books--it took about five minutes for her to get it out of her system--I walked to the right, around a bookshelf and stopped in front of a chest of drawers with a hole in the wall behind it. I also saw a painting of what appeared to be the Skull Kid's true self on the adjacent wall--I was honestly expecting Starlight Glimmer--and it was certainly suspicious. Looking back at the drawers, it was divided into three parts with one being a slightly darker tone of colour compared to the other two. Pulling on the middle part that looked different, it pulled out and a Gold Skulltula could be seen hiding in the hole behind it.
Using my Hookshot, I destroyed the spider and collected the eighth token before turning my attention towards the painting. I could hear scratching sounds coming from behind it telling me that another Skulltula was hiding there so I fired my Hookshot at the painting and it dropped to the ground before falling forward. Where the painting once hung was another spider so I promptly took care of it and acquired my ninth token before pondering over where to go next. Princess Twilight once again fawned over all those old books but I'm glad she did as some books looked different compared with the rest on a particular shelf.
I took a closer look at them and saw that they had strange, tiny spikes embedded on the spines of each book. An idea then came into my head that involving seeing if I could climb up the books as though they were a ladder, and so I did but upon reaching the top, I came across a skeletal figure who was just sitting there minding its own business. No doubt it was a Stalchild--a creature I recall from my previous journey--yet why wasn't it attacking me like other monsters did?
" What is that Stalchild doing there?"
" I'm surprised you knew what it was."
" I can't forget something that chased me throughout the night."
Princess Twilight blinked a few times before continuing. " Anyway... This Stalchild doesn't appear to be interested in us even though we're talking about it. In fact, I don't think it even knows what it's doing judging from its expression. I doubt this is the only one in here so if you run into anymore of them, don't attack them unless they are trying to do the same in return though I doubt they will. I am curious as to why they would be here of all places."
" Could Starlight have sent them?"
" No, I don't think so."
" Then maybe a high ranking Stalchild?"
" That sounds more likely." Twilight answered. " In any case, we should focus on destroying those other Gold Skulltulas and worry about the Stalchildren later once we've accomplished our goal."
Looking across the various bookshelves, I saw a Gold Skulltula scurrying along the top of the furthest shelf so I carefully jumped from shelf to shelf until I was on the shelf adjacent to where it was--jumping onto that one would have caused me to get knocked down by that spider since Her Highness said they were pretty painful to touch. Using my Hookshot once again, I destroyed the Gold Skulltula and collected the token--number ten--leaving me to figure out my next course of action. I decided to knock down the other paintings just in case there was a spider hiding behind one so I began using my Hookshot to knock them down.
The first two paintings turned up nothing but then the third proved lucrative as behind it was a hole in the wall with a Gold Skulltula hiding deep within it. Aiming carefully whilst making sure I didn't slip off the bookshelf, two well-timed Hookshot strikes later and I had the eleventh token but then I noticed yet another spider crawling around, this one on a support beam that encompassed each wall of the room via a small slither of a gap in the walls. While it didn't look safe from a building perspective, I didn't have to move since my Hookshot's chain had a long range. It took several attempts before this Skulltula was destroyed and I acquired the next token.
With that done, I jumped down and rolled into the bookshelf by accident, knocking down several books and the shelves exposing a hidden hole behind it. While my carelessness did annoy Princess Twilight a little--books meant a lot to her--she forgave me since everything in this cursed house was old and decrepit. Two more Gold Skulltulas were scurrying about behind the bookshelf though now that I thought about it, perhaps I was meant to have pushed it out of the way instead of crashing into it and knocking everything down as well as bruise my body in places.
Using my Hookshot, I destroyed both spiders and picked up their respective tokens giving me a total of fourteen. The scratching sounds then ceased indicating that there were no more spiders in the room and directly ahead of me was the door so I ran over and went back to the previous room. Since I had no other Skulltulas left to find on the upper level of this house, it meant I could finally go to the lower level and flush out whatever was there.
Running down the stairs, I stopped halfway upon seeing another Gold Skulltula crawling along a support beam similar to the one I saw in the library yet this one didn't have as much to maneuver around. Using my Hookshot, I fired the chain, destroyed the spider, and fired it again to acquire the fifteenth token. This one was important in that I was now halfway done with being in this cursed house though part of me wanted to leave as soon as possible.
" You're halfway there, Sunset!"
" This is surprisingly easy." I said. " But, that's because of the Hookshot. If I didn't have it with me, I wouldn't have been able to get any of those spirit tokens."
" You wouldn't have been able to get over the fence back at the start."
" Good point."
" Still, you have to wonder if that was the case with the other cursed house." Twilight said. " That one in the swamp could have been accessed a lot sooner since you had the ability to burn the cobweb by using one of those Deku Sticks, but perhaps going there too soon would have made things more difficult because you didn't have the Hookshot. Maybe we gave ourselves a reprieve yet never put much effort into it until now?"
" Guess we'll never know."
Princess Twilight nodded. " Indeed, but you do have to wonder what could have been. In any case, we should continue with what we're doing here. I'd say we've been in here for about a couple of hours now so time is definitely on our side."
At the bottom of the stairs were more pots that were covered in cobwebs so I took out the Hero's Bow with Fire Arrows and burned the web away before turning to the left and seeing even more covering a hole in the wall and a stack of crates with pots on top of each. It took two arrows to burn each cobweb as one was in front of the other and hiding deep inside of the hole was another Gold Skulltula. I couldn't fit through the hole so I resorted to using my Hookshot, taking it out and pulling the sixteenth token to me where it entered my body.
I then became curious over those pots that were covered by the cobwebs earlier. It seemed that I couldn't climb onto the crates as the pots took up too much space so I switched over to regular arrows for a few moments and shattered both pots with arrows--I had to use at least five to shatter both due to how small they were. The first one yielded nothing but some extra arrows that I picked up to replace what I had used yet the second revealed a Gold Skulltula hiding inside of it. Had I made an attempt at climbing up onto the crates, it would have struck me upon shattering the pot.
Switching back to the Hookshot, I destroyed the spider and then another one I heard crawling behind me on the wall giving me a total of eighteen tokens. I was about to go through one of the doors when my ears picked up a scratching noise coming from a large pot. Walking along slowly and listening carefully, the noise came from a pot next to one of the doors, and that meant rolling into it to force it to jump out and to the ground. I stepped back before running and rolling into the pot, the Gold Skulltula jumping out in response, my head throbbed slightly as a result of hitting my head on the pot to my displeasure.
Slashing it twice with my sword and picking up the nineteenth token, I pondered over which door I should go through next for a couple of minutes. I ultimately decided to go through the door that was hiding beneath the stairs so I walked over to it, opened the door, and entered the next room where I nearly freaked out upon seeing a pair of sarcophagi in one corner--my heart began beating rapidly so I pounded my chest in response.
" Whew..."
" Why are you hitting your chest?
" Don't you see the two sarcophagi over there?"
Princess Twilight looked at what I was pointing towards and shrugged her shoulders. " What about them?"
I shouted. " Don't you know what is often inside of those things!? Mummies from a forgotten age who were buried inside their sarcophagi tend to come out of them. Granted, a lot of that comes from watching those cheap thriller monster movies Rainbow Dash rents every time we have a sleepover at her place, but it can happen here as well. Believe me, I've seen it happen with my own eyes."
" We don't really have that kind of thing back in Equestria."
" Seriously?"
Princess Twilight nodded. " Well, it's something Daring Do has probably seen during her adventures, but it never happens in any other situation. I think it's safe to say that nothing will come out of those sarcophagi, Sunset, since they have been chained up, yet I won't deny that you've seen things that I haven't."
" That conversation certainly went nowhere."
" Maybe so but at least we got to bond a little more."
Her Highness was right about that though I couldn't believe that Equestria had never seen anything like a mummy rising up from its sarcophagus and wanting something because it had been disturbed. Also, I still had trouble seeing Daring Do as a real-life pony seeing she always a fictional character according to the books--Princess Twilight had told me that the writer of the books, A.K. Yearling, was the adventurer herself in disguise so as to not be discovered by her enemies. No doubt she would be geeking out upon seeing such relics among other treasures were she in this world as her true self and not that of a scientist.
To my left were a stack of crates arranged in a way so that I could climb up on them and onto the rafters above, yet as soon as I walked towards them, something dropped down from above, and knocked me to the ground. I got back up and saw that a regular sized Skulltula had attacked me--I didn't think other monsters were in here--but before I could respond, a small black creature, one of those Black Boes, knocked me down as well. Getting back up again, I took my bow and shot the Skulltula point blank with an arrow, destroying it after it got pushed into a wall, switched back to my sword, and took out the Black Boe.
With that out of the way, I climbed up the boxes until I was on top of the highest one, and used my Hookshot to pull myself up to the rafters by using a barrel as a Hookshot plate and encountered several more barrels. Scratching noises could be heard amongst them yet I didn't know which ones contained Gold Skulltulas so once again I found myself rolling into the barrels to break them and suffering more bruises to my body--especially my head. The first two yielded magic jars that were necessary as I had been using a lot of magic in here yet the next one contained the Gold Skulltula that I happily destroyed with two sword strikes, collecting token number twenty.
Since there was nothing else to be found on the rafters, I jumped back down to the ground and noticed a crate stuck in-between some other objects. It stood out by being more colourful than what surrounded it and that meant rolling into it to smash it to pieces--my already bruised head was really hating this now. One roll later and the crate broke, a Gold Skulltula leapt out from it, landing nearby where I slashed it twice with my sword and collecting the token. I then turned around and saw an identical crate opposite of where I was standing and I grumbled knowing what had to be done--definitely hated doing this now.
Upon rolling into and smashing the crate, there was a small grotto behind it with some pots along with the scratching noise I had now become familiar with. Smashing the pots gave me nothing--I wasn't expecting that--yet when I turned to head back, the Gold Skulltula was right there hanging above the entrance. Using my Hookshot, I destroyed it and pulled the token to me giving me twenty-two now--I was nearly finished--but I noticed another one crawling up and down on the back wall whilst hiding behind some crates and a pot. I was honestly surprised that it was there as I could have sworn this room was now spider free.
My Hookshot first broke the pot as it was in my way and then I destroyed the spider and collected yet another token by pulling it towards myself. Whoever came up with the idea of needing to destroy thirty of them must have done so as a cruel prank. Granted, this cursed house wasn't too stressful though the other one might prove to be exactly that. I was about to leave the room when Her Highness began bopping me on the head.
" You missed one."
" Where?"
Princess Twilight floated up to a cobweb that I somehow overlooked and there it was. " Good thing I mentioned it otherwise you'd be scrambling to find that 'last one' after exploring every room in this house."
" How many do I have left?"
" Including that one up there, six."
" I'm almost done with this."
" I've been thinking about what we need to do once the last Gold Skulltula has been destroyed."
" What did you conclude?"
" For one thing, the curse on this house will be broken once you've collected all thirty spirits." Twilight answered. " From there, we should probably go back to the entrance to see if that friend of Snails decides to show up and claim the house as his own. Unfortunately, I have no way of knowing if he will appear since Snails didn't specify when he would come back to check this place out."
I slapped my forehead. " Guess we just have to hope that he is by the entrance."
Princess Twilight nodded. " Yes otherwise we might have wasted precious time that could have been used for something else. If my calculations are correct, then the room we haven't explored should contain the remaining Gold Skulltulas. It should also contain the other Stalchildren since we haven't run into any since leaving that library."
" Will they leave me alone as well?"
" They should provided you don't attack them or appear threatening."
I put down my Hookshot on the ground, took out the Hero's Bow, and nocked a Fire Arrow before launching it at the cobweb, burning it to ashes, exposing the Gold Skulltula who seemed unfazed by what I just did--I was hoping it would have been destroyed along with the cobweb upon the Fire Arrow connecting with the latter. Either way, I put my bow away, picked up the Hookshot, fired the chain to destroy the spider and pulled its token to me giving me twenty-four altogether. I then began listening for any scratching sounds in case one of them was still hiding--there was silence indicating this room was cleared.
After putting the Hookshot away, I walked over to the door, entered the previous room, and headed over to the one door I had yet to go through. Entering the next room, my body went cold upon seeing a table that housed four Stalchildren sitting on chairs either side of it--two per side--giggling away. I had no idea what they were doing but I wasn't going to bother them since that was what Princess Twilight suggested I not do. More of those weird masks were hanging on the opposite wall yet these had colour as opposed to all the others I had seen. Was it some kind of puzzle? If it was then I had no idea what it meant as I had nothing to go on.
On the other walls were more paintings of the Skull Kid--again it should have been Starlight--and I knew to check behind them, and each corner of the room housed small and large pots that were no doubt hiding places for Gold Skulltulas. Finally, at the base of the back wall was a fireplace though it had iron bars blocking what appeared to be a passageway that probably hid some kind of reward that I couldn't access without knowing what to do. I had a feeling that the coloured masks on the wall had some kind of code and that solving it would raise the iron bars. Could these Stalchildren know anything? It sounded fruitless since they were ignoring me and all.
I slowly walked to the left of the table, then to the right of the pots, and rolled into the large pot by the back wall, a Gold Skulltula jumped out and landed on the ground nearby. I had to be careful not to attack the Stalchildren in case they decided to gang up on me because of destroying one of them. That meant not swinging my sword around and instead relying on my Hookshot. I took it out and destroyed the spider, walked over to collect its token--number twenty-five--since it was right there in front of me.
" So far so good." I whispered. " They haven't noticed us."
" Don't you wonder what they have to say?"
I was taken aback. " Why would I do that?"
" It just seems strange that they are here in this cursed house sitting around and staring at nothing."
" Now that you mention it, these guys aren't really doing anything wrong."
Princess Twilight floated over to a Stalchild and waved her hand in front of its face. It did nothing in response so she tried it again only for nothing to happen. " It's like they are fixated on whatever it is they are doing and are ignoring everything else." She waved for a third time and once again the Stalchild ignored her. " A shame that we don't have a means of talking to them. We could have found out why they're here and maybe learn something about those coloured masks."
" I think there's a code associated with them."
" Yes." Twilight said. " And, I have a hunch that these Stalchildren might know something. We'll have to ignore them for now and perhaps come back when they figure out how to communicate with them as they have no intention of doing so right now."
" Guess I am curious about what they know now."
" I knew you would."
I smiled. " Figured that was your plan and it worked. By the way, can you see anymore Gold Skulltulas?"
" There are scratching sounds coming from the chandelier above the table." Twilight answered. " I suspect there are a couple of them hiding in there but they might not be easy for you to destroy if they are using it as a kind of shield. Perhaps you can shake them loose by using something heavy?"
Fortunately, I had such a thing in the form of my Goron body, but first I wanted to knock down the paintings in case there was a spider hiding behind one. Using my Hookshot, I hit the painting on the right-hand wall closest to the fireplace, and knocked it down revealing a Gold Skulltula. I destroyed it using the Hookshot and obtained token number twenty-six upon pulling it towards me. I then began thinking about how best to bring those other spiders down from the chandelier. Either I could pound the ground or the table as a Goron though that could destroy a Stalchild and leave me to deal with the others.
I took out the Goron Mask and was about to place it on my place when I noticed another spider crawling around on a support beam in-between the walls--again. That changed my plans slightly in that I needed to take care of that one first before dealing with the others. Aiming my Hookshot upwards, I waited for the Gold Skulltula to come around before firing the chain and destroying it, and then fired it again to bring the token down to me. With twenty-seven tokens in my possession, all that remained was to bring down the remaining spiders and acquire theirs so I placed the Goron Mask on my face and quickly grabbed onto the bars covering the fireplace.
Whenever I changed into Maud--Darmani--the transformation was erratic in execution and this time was no exception. My body wanted to stumble about but I held onto the bars firmly and watched as my body shimmered from human to Goron until I became Darmani--it had been a while since I last became this form so I needed a few moments to get adjusted to a bulky body again. The Stalchildren had ignored my transformation so at least there was no need to explain anything even though they had been ignoring me the entire time. Now I needed to choose how best to approach this.
It took me about ten seconds to decide that pounding the table was more efficient than just anywhere on the ground to bring the remaining spiders down. Luckily, I could climb up onto the table by jumping despite having small legs as a Goron and I did just that before curling up into a ball. I leapt up and crashed down on the table though the Stalchildren were apparently unaffected which was definitely surprising--I thought they would be destroyed by it--but the important thing was the final three Gold Skulltulas getting ejected from the chandelier and landing all across the room.
Rather than change back to normal and destroy the spiders, I decided to punch them with my fists instead out of a sense of self-satisfaction. Fortunately, none of them chose to flee or anything so it was easy to take them out using a single punch on each of them and collecting the final tokens. Once the last token was mine, I dropped to my hands and knees and began breathing heavily knowing how difficult it had been to achieve my goal.
" You did it, Sunset."
" About time too."
" Are you okay?"
I turned to look at Her Highness. " I'm exhausted from having to go over this place but I should recover if I rest for about a minute or two." I then turned over and laid down on my back, staring at the ceiling, and continuing to breathe heavily. " I am not looking forward to the other cursed house in the swamp and I wish it didn't have to be cleared of any spiders but what other choice do I have? I need all of the masks if I want to get that ultimate mask."
" Is it really worth it?"
I slowly shook my head. " I honestly don't know anymore, Twilight. I've been getting mixed messages about it from the different versions of Adagio yet none of them have been honest with me and instead have been nothing but cryptic. I could use it to give me an edge against Starlight but the thought of being corrupted is too much for me to bear. Thing is, I've collected many masks already so I might as well get the rest of them."
" Such a heavy burden."
" No kidding." I said. After resting for a couple of minutes, I got back onto my feet and adjusted the gloves on my hands. " Well, that was enough resting so how about we get out of this place and make our way over to the other cursed house?"
" Are you going to change back first?"
I shook my head. " The slope I came down when I destroyed that wall at the beginning is too steep for me to run up so I might as well roll my way up like this. There's probably another one of those Hookshot plates that will let me get back over the fence but I'm going to rely on a different approach." Princess Twilight then looked at me with a concerned expression on her face yet I reassured her with a simple wink. " Don't worry, Twilight. This will be a piece of cake."
It didn't take long for me to make my way back to the entrance of the cursed house and when I stood in front of the fence, I decided to punch it repeatedly in order to force it open rather than use the Hookshot. Being a Goron had its benefits such as in this instance as my hands felt perfectly fine as they dented the fence with every blow I made. While I knew that Snails' friend wanted to use this place to hide from the moon, I wanted to get out without using the required method--I also wanted to vent out some pent-up rage against something due to what I experienced.
A few more punches and I made a hole in the fence allowing me to walk through. From there, I curled up into a ball, rolled up the slope and came to a stop where I heard the sound of someone mumbling outside, most likely Snails' friend. I quickly grabbed my face, took off the Goron Mask, flipped back my hair, and just in time as someone entered the cursed house. He looked rather timid in his composure yet he wasn't an enemy or anything like that.
" I finally came back here and I find that someone else decided to claim this place."
I shook my head. " I have no intention of having this place."
The man was surprised. " Really? I was certain you were planning on keeping it. My friend told me that someone came in here to get rid of the cursed spiders and I bet that someone happens to be you?"
I nodded my head. " It was something I wanted to do."
" Wow... I never guessed someone would get rid of those things."
" Believe me! It wasn't easy."
" You did me a favour by getting rid of those spiders but to be honest, I really want to have this place." The man said. " I'm begging you to let me have this place! I really need it to shelter myself from the falling moon." I was about to respond when he suddenly thrust a large wallet in my face and began pleading out of desperation. " I'll give you my Giant's Wallet in return for this place. I know it may not seem like much but I'm hoping you'll agree."
" Okay, you can have it."
The man was ecstatic. " You will not regret this decision! That wallet can hold up to 500 rupees though I don't see you getting that many since you're a kid and all. Still, I'm glad that you needed it since I wasn't going to be using it for much longer anyway."
Thanking the man for the Giant's Wallet, I left him to his own devices and walked outside of the Oceanside Spider House, a happy expression on my face because of acquiring the means of getting that mask from Iron Will though it did involve farming for rupees. Looking up at the sky, the sun was at its peak, and that meant I had to move quickly and make my way over to the other cursed house located in the swamp.
Some time in the past...
" You're a strange one for coming to a desolate place like this."
" Huh? Are you talking to me?"
" There's no one else around here other than you, me, and that fairy floating around you."
" What do you want?"
" I couldn't help notice that you're wearing a strange mask. I mean, I've seen people wear those all the time in Clock Town whenever they have their celebration every year, but what you've got on your face is definitely something else. It may sound a little presumptuous of me but could I take a closer look at that mask? I just really want to feel it for myself and perhaps learn what materials were used to craft it."
" Um... I don't think you should try that."
" Huh? Are you talking to me, little fairy?"
" Yes."
" Why should I listen to the words of a fairy!? You're nothing but an insignificant creature whose only purpose is to heal the wounds of those better than you. If anything, you should keep quiet before something bad happens. Besides, I only want to take a look at that mask. It's not like I plan on stealing it or anything."
" I'd run away if I were you."
" What!? Me? Run? Why would I do that?"
" My friend has more power in her little finger than you have in your entire body, three times over."
" Again, why should I listen to you, fairy? You have no say in the matter as you're just a tool to be used as we humans see fit. Please, my masked friend. Don't allow that pitiful fairy to convince you not to let me take a look at that mask. I am an innocent person who lives in this desolate place because I have to protect what is mine from those who think they can steal from me."
" Apologize."
" Huh? For what?"
" For insulting my friend."
" And why should I?"
" I've tolerated your stupidity long enough but I suppose you need to be taught a lesson. I am a Skull Kid who possesses tremendous power that allows me to perform great miracles the likes of which this world has never seen before." The Skull Kid, Starlight Glimmer, then began shaking her head and the eyes of her mask began to glow in an eerie light before several boulders dropped down from the cliff-face, landing in a circle around the one she had been talking to. " That was just a small sample of what I am capable of. If you want me to give you a second lesson, by all means continue insulting Tael over here."
" What... what are you?"
" I am a Skull Kid who possesses tremendous power." Starlight answered.
" Do you think this lady knows anything, Skull Kid?" Spike asked.
" She seems to be familiar with this area so I assume yes."
" I hope she can help us find what you're looking for." Spike said. " To be perfectly honest, I'm not sure why we're even here in the first place. We've heard the rumours that this place reeks of the dead since no one has set foot around here for centuries apart from those who want to be here, and I feel really creeped out that we're here to begin with. Maybe we should forget all about coming here and try someplace else?"
Starlight laughed in response. " Hee hee! Don't be so scared, Tael! I know exactly what I'm doing!"
" That's what worries me the most."
" This is going to be the best prank I've ever pulled and it's sure to cause a riot!" Starlight said. " Besides, the undead won't really feel a thing once I'm done since they're already dead and all so that's an added bonus. Anyone living further in this valley will just have to accept the fact that I'm going to top myself once again."
" I've been thinking, Skull Kid."
Starlight tilted her head down and looked at Spike. " About what?"
Spike's wings drooped as he spoke. " Maybe we should stop with the pranks." He quickly flinched when Starlight freaked out in response. " Hey! Calm down, Skull Kid. I know you didn't like me saying that but maybe we ought to not go to that temple and open its doors."
Starlight's eyes glowed brightly. " Why should I stop now? I've come this far with my pranks and each time I use the powers of this mask, they get better and better. This world did nothing but mistreat me just because my idea of fun didn't mesh well with their definition of it. I'm finally getting back at everyone who wronged me and what I'm going to do here will be my best prank yet." She lurched forward and Spike cowered in fear. " Don't you start telling me that things are going too far, Tael. You've been loving these pranks just as much as I have so don't act like you're some kind of pariah."
" I'm just saying."
" Well don't!"
" That mask has changed you."
" It's given me more power than I could imagine."
" Maybe you shouldn't have put it on."
Starlight's eyes glowed again. " Are you suggesting that I've gone too far, Tael? Well... Are you!?" Spike once again cowered in fear and Starlight burst into laughter. " I just love when you cower like that, hee hee! Sure, it gets boring after a while but it's just so much fun to see someone afraid of what I've become." She then turned around and noticed the person she had been talking to standing right behind her and their hands were inches away from grabbing her mask. " Wow... You really do have a clear case of not understanding my power. Must I repeat what I did a few minutes ago?" She snapped her finger and more rocks came tumbling down from the cliff.
" I just want to look at your mask."
" Unless you want me to turn you inside-out or bury you alive, you'll help me with something."
" You wouldn't..."
" Try me."
" Very well. I'll help you with what you want."
Starlight laughed once again. " Hee hee! Probably the smartest decision you've made all day! Now, I want you to guide me to where I want to go and you won't complain about how you'll be treated in the process otherwise I might decide to get rid of you completely. Don't worry, this will only take a few minutes and then you can do whatever it is you were doing before running into me. Oh, and keep your filthy hands off of my mask or I'll make sure you live to regret it."
It took me some time to get over to the other cursed house since I wanted to do something extra in the process. I used the Song of Soaring to warp myself back to Clock Town to pay a visit to the bank behind the Clock Tower--I really needed to use its services more than what I had been doing--and deposited some rupees I had in my wallet. I had no idea how many rupees I had deposited but I knew it was somewhere less than 500, unfortunate as it meant getting that other reward Fleur Dis Lee talked about was next to impossible unless I were to grind outside in the field for rupees for an entire cycle, maybe even two.
Once I was finished at the bank, I played the Song of Soaring again so that I could make my way over to Woodfall but then I had an issue. There were two locations I could warp to in the swamp, the entrance that connected to Termina Field and where Woodfall Temple was located. Both Owl Statues were far away from the cursed house and the former path would involve walking through poison since my actions from before had since been reversed.
I supposed that I could have gone through what I initially when I first could leave Clock Town until I reached the cursed house but then that would have wasted valuable time that was needed to complete other tasks during this cycle of time. Besides, with my current items, I could easily skip certain sections of the swamp such as needing to go into that mazed forest near where I found that Potion Shop run by Chrysalis The other path had more poisonous water for me to deal with as the Owl Statue was located right in the heart of Woodfall, but I could just fly over it using Deku Flowers whilst avoiding any flying monsters, like those Dragonflies.
Thinking about it, I figured that going to Woodfall Temple and working my way over to the cursed house was the much shorter route though it was more dangerous. Mulling it over for a few minutes and asking Princess Twilight for a second opinion, I decided that I would warp over to Woodfall Temple, so I began thinking about that location. Wings protruded from my back, wrapped themselves around me, and soon I disappeared only to reappeared seconds later on the platform used by the Deku Scrubs to summon Woodfall Temple from the depths of the swamp--I wasn't going to go in there for that one frog for the time being.
My first thought was to become Mikau and swim on over to the entrance that connected back to the main part of Woodfall but I doubted that the water was deep enough for me to swim properly and the poison would damage my health like crazy. I then considered swimming as a human yet I suspected the same results would happen--becoming Darmani wasn't an option as Gorons sank like rocks in the water. The only option was becoming my Deku Scrub form for the first time since Snowhead Temple. For a while, I believed I'd never be able to become my first alternate body but now it had become necessary.
Taking out the Deku Mask and placing it on my face, I began experiencing convulsions as the magic within the mask took effect, and I screamed out loud as my body shimmer from human to plant just like that. Upon my transformation finishing, rather than jumping down and hoping I could reach a platform jutting out of the poisonous water, I decided to take the long way back--essentially I had to go backwards--and that meant dealing with Mad Scrubs hiding in Deku Flowers and those aggressive creatures who charged at me whenever I got close to them--their names escaped me.
It took about ten minutes to traverse back to the entrance of Woodfall and my battered body was proof of that. " I don't remember those Deku Nuts causing so much pain the last time we came here." The Mad Scrubs pelted me with many nuts, most of which hit me in the chest, arms, legs, and even my head on a couple of occasions, and while I shrugged it off, I felt like I had been in a war zone of some kind.
" It has been a while since you last became a Deku." Twilight said.
" Maybe I should have used that big shield I get in this body."
" That would have made things easier."
I sighed. " Let's just get this over with." I walked through the tunnel and back into the main part of Woodfall before looking down at the poisonous water. It felt strange seeing it back again after getting rid of it during my first excursion in this region but then time travel loved playing cruel jokes on those who utilized it. " Now where do you suppose that cursed house could be? I remember seeing the entrance blocked somewhere around here."
Princess Twilight looked down to see if she could spot it and bopped me on the head moments later. " There, Sunset! It's down there!" I looked down again and saw the cobweb covered entrance along with a lit torch nearby telling me that I could have entered the place much sooner. " Perhaps we could have explored this cursed house after completing Woodfall Temple, but then you might have an easier time of things now since you've got additional items that you didn't have before."
" Perhaps you're right."
" You might want to change back to a human before dropping down."
" I was thinking of landing on one of those lily pads down there."
" Deku Scrubs don't like falling from great heights."
" I know but would you want me to get injured from a fall or from poisonous water?"
Princess Twilight looked at me, then down at the water below, and then back at me again. " To be honest, I'd rather you not get hurt at all, but I suppose the first option would be the lesser of two evils since poison isn't fun by any means." She looked down again and gulped heavily before looking back at me. " It is a pretty steep fall, Sunset, and no doubt your knees aren't going to enjoy the experience."
" Are you afraid of heights?"
" I wouldn't say it like that."
I looked down this time before looking back at Her Highness. " You're only worried for my safety, Twilight, and I appreciate the concern. I should aim properly at that lily pad down there before jumping as I'd rather not miss it."
Walking over to the edge of the ledge, I looked down one more time to make sure I was directly above one of the lily pads down below--there were multiple in a straight line and since my Deku Scrub body was light, I wouldn't push the lily pad into the water--something that would happen with my other forms. Gulping heavily, I took a few steps backwards, then ran forward, jumped off the ledge, and dropped like a stone before landing seconds later on the lily pad, my knees buckling in the process, my reaction appropriate for the situation. It felt like my entire body had been hit with one of those ten ton weights you see in cartoons.
" Are you okay?"
I gritted through my teeth. " That... Was... Painful... To no end!"
" At least you didn't land in the poisonous water."
" Yeah... I feel proud about that." I moaned while gritting my teeth. " Just... just give me a few moments to recover." I lifted up a leg, shook it about to get the feeling back into it, switched over to the other one, repeated the process, and then hopped over to the island with the cursed house on it. " And my health only dropped by a small amount despite dropping a distance that would cause a far more serious injury."
" You were lucky."
I nodded. " It was a risk I'm not willing to try again."
" Guess you should change back to a human now."
I grabbed my face, pulled off the Deku Mask, and flipped my hair back upon changing back into a human. From there, I took out the Hero's Bow, nocked a Fire Arrow into it, and fired at the cobweb, burning it to ashes and allowing me access to the cursed house. Before walking inside, I looked up at the sun to see where it was in the sky. It had since moved west upon my last viewing and that meant nightfall would happen in about two or three hours from now. It would take me several hours before I had taken care of the Gold Skulltulas inside this cursed house so my chances of thwarting Lightning Dust were extremely slim.
Walking into the building, I came upon a sign that read "Swamp Spider House" and the sounds of scratching could be heard everywhere. There was also a dog running around in circles though why it was even here to begin with was something I didn't understand. Every once in a while, it would stop, look up at the ceiling, and bark several times before resuming its routine and eventually repeating the process. I looked up myself and couldn't see anything suspicious so I walked a few more paces before something dropped down and scared the living daylights out of me.
The creature looked like a Skulltula but there was something different about it. A closer inspection revealed that it had a weird looking eye, and yet I seemed to recognize it from something, as though I had seen it somewhere before during my previous journey. One of the Skulltula's legs was disproportionate to the rest of its body along with the left side of the mouth--it hung down a little compared to the other side. That weird looking eye was definitely creeping me out by this point and that dog didn't seem to like seeing it either so I thought about ignoring the spider before it suddenly began talking to me.
" Wait! I am not a monster!"
It could have fooled me but I chose to answer back. " What do you mean?"
" The spider's curse... it made me this way!"
" What did you do to anger them?"
" I don't know why those golden spiders cursed me but I am begging you to help me out." The man answered. " In this place, you will find those golden spiders crawling about all over the places on walls, floors, ceilings, and even in tiny holes that are perfect breeding grounds for bugs that hide underneath rocks. Destroy them all quickly! Every time you destroy one of those accursed creatures, it will leave behind a token that contains its spirit. Be sure to collect them as proof and don't leave any behind under any circumstances."
" Um... I already knew that."
" You did?"
I nodded. " I went to another place just like this over by the ocean."
" Then you know what must be done." The man said. " If you destroy all thirty golden spiders in the rooms that follow, I will reward you by giving you something I am certain will be of incredible use. Please... hurry... being stuck like this is incredibly painful."
I could tell that he was desperate for someone to help him though he didn't really need to tell me what I already knew. Then again, he didn't know that I had been to the other spider house and assumed I didn't know anything. I had every intention of helping him because it was the right thing to do and because I needed to get a mask from here. Perhaps that man knew something about it and would be able to tell me how to find it.
Before walking through the door, I decided to lift up the rock that was next to the man to see if there was anything worthwhile beneath it. Upon picking it up, several bugs began scurrying about in panic because of being discovered, and since he mentioned tiny holes being inside of the cursed house that were loved by bugs, I most likely needed to collect some of them in hopes they will be of some use. I quickly took out three of my bottles--juggling them proved difficult--and began scooping the bugs up into them before they could dig underground and beyond my reach.
When the last one was safely inside my bottle, I put them away, walked through the door, and entered the next room which turned out to be the central area for this cursed house due to there being two floors and several doors--on each floor--heading off towards other rooms. My first thought revolved around dealing with the bugs I had picked up and whether or not what the man said was true about them loving tiny holes. What did he even mean by that anyway? It's not like I could find a tiny hole somewhere in here and assume a bug would love it. That's when I noticed something on a nearby wall and ran over to take a closer look.
On the wall was a mound of soil that looked soft, like it was prepared accordingly, and in the middle of it was a hole. It took me a few moments to realize that it was the same soil that I used to plant and water that magic bean back at the Deku Palace so that I could gain access to that prison cell the monkey was stuck in from a different direction. So bugs loved crawling in this kind of soil? It didn't sound correct in my head but I decided to go with it anything since I didn't really have any other ideas. I took out one of my bottles, uncorked it, and watched as the bug crawled up the wall and into the soft soil, yet nothing happened at first. Had I done something wrong?
A few seconds later, something jumped out of the soil and knocked me onto my butt before landing on the ground. Picking myself back up, I looked to see what had knocked me down and it was a Gold Skulltula. I slashed it with my sword, collected the first of thirty tokens--once again I had to collect a large amount--and looked over my inventory, determining that I needed more arrows. Luckily, there were a couple of pots behind me so I walked over and smashed them only for another Gold Skulltula to come out of the second pot. It was able to strike me before I could the same in kind, and I did, destroying it and picking up the second token.
" Looks like collecting those bugs proved useful." Twilight said.
" Good thing I have several bottles."
Princess Twilight nodded. " Yes. Can you imagine coming here with only the one bottle and being forced to backtrack to the entrance several times just to collect more bugs for use with that soft soil?"
I shuddered at the thought of it. " Glad we're here now then."
Princess Twilight nodded again. " It does mean getting this place cleared out a lot sooner but you should still be careful, Sunset. Those Gold Skulltulas have already scored some hits against you through no mistake of your own, and you didn't bring any potions along so things could get serious." She then floated to the left of me and whistled loudly to grab my immediate attention. " There's a Gold Skulltula moving about in the water right behind you!"
" What!?" I turned around and saw the spider moving towards me so I struck it twice with my sword and collected the token it left behind. " I didn't notice it earlier when we approached that soft soil on the wall."
" Perhaps it was on the other side of the room and only just now came over this way?"
" Maybe, but that was a bit too close for comfort."
" I did see another mound of soft soil on the other side of the room opposite the one you used."
" Then we should check that one out next."
Princess Twilight nodded. " Be careful as there could be other Gold Skulltulas crawling about in the water."
Before running over to the other side of the room, I looked down at the water to make sure there were no Gold Skulltulas crawling about in it--there weren't any though I was surprised that this cursed house had a flooded floor--before heading over there and uncorking another bottle. The bug dropped to the ground and looked to be wanting to wander off initially until it sensed the soft soil and crawled up the wall. It went inside and a few moments later, the next Skulltula jumped out though this time I knew to keep my distance. I destroyed it, collected the fourth token, and was about to go through the door when I heard scratching coming from behind a pillar.
I ran around to the other side to see a Gold Skulltula crawling up and down the pillar. Had I come here much sooner instead of now, I would have had to use my Deku Scrub form and destroy it with a bubble when it had come down as low as possible. But, since I was here now, my Hookshot pretty much made it a non-issue for me. Taking it out and aiming, I fired the chain at the Skulltula only to miss due to it crawling back up the pillar so I aimed up, fired again, destroying it, and collected my fifth token. Things were going good so far though it was too soon to say for certain if it would continue like this.
Of two doors that I could choose on the lower level, my heart wanted me to go through the door on my left. Why? I wasn't sure either but I decided to anyway as I would have to go there eventually since the Gold Skulltulas were everywhere in this house. Putting my Hookshot away, I turned around, walked across the room, opened the door, and entered the next room where my mouth suddenly dropped upon seeing what stood before me.