The Temple was much more impressive on the inside. In the entrance hall alone, there stood two sets of arcades on either side of the room, allowing glimpses at 2 large doors beyond; on the far end of the room stood a large gothic stained-glass window with ornate tracery in the shape of flowers; and the clerestory sported several circular windows of varying colors, blending together to cast the room in a warm reddish-orange glow.
As for the contents of the room, there wasn't much. A few cube-ish boulders were scattered about for no discernible reason, and a small chest sat amidst a larger cluster of them.
And, of course, Spike, Nuha, and Hamzah were also standing at the entrance. They marvelled at the room before them — Spike imagining the possibilities that the Silver Gauntlets granted him, and the Fairies admiring the architecture.
Finally, Spike eagerly donned the Silver Gauntlets. "Well, no time like the present, eh?" He marched over to one of the boulders, readied himself, heaved...
And overestimated the effort he'd need, sending it flying into a wall.
"Sweet Celestia..." Spike stared wide-eyed at the pile of rubble the boulder had become.
Hamzah, on the other hand, was absolutely livid. "Careful, you could've crushed us!"
"Sorry," Spike smiled meekly. He turned and picked up another boulder, this time being more wary of his augmented strength.
He had to admit, it felt rather empowering to lift a large rock as if it weighed no more than a pillow. "This is awesome!" he cheered before dropping the boulder onto the ground beside him. He moved another boulder, clearing a path to the small chest.
Upon opening it, he was pleasantly surprised to find a nice, red gem. Nuha flitted forward to explain it, but Spike had already popped the morsel into his mouth. It tasted rather sweet, like a raspberry.
Hamzah looked rather mortified, for some reason that was beyond Spike. "Why'd you do that?!"
He shrugged. "I was hungry."
The fairies exchanged a glance. "Well, alright. But for future reference, that was a red Rupee, which we use for currency."
Spike blanched, now understanding the looks on their... Lack of faces? He hadn't even realized it, but he was getting rather good at reading their emotions. "Oh, I see... How much was that worth, exactly?"
"Oh, not much," Hamzah retorted, "just 20 regular Rupees." Upon seeing Spike's confused look, he elaborated, "A pound of blasting powder is worth 5."
Spike's face flushed red. "Sorry..."
Nuha nodded, "It's okay, you didn't know."
With that lesson learned, they decided to move on. With a light touch, the door on the left side of the room slid upwards to reveal a room half the size of the entrance hall (about 7x12 tiles of flooring, as opposed to 15x12). The floor was divided into two sections, split off by a moat of lava. On this side of the room was a few boulders, a small statue of a Goron, and a pair of red Keese hanging from the ceiling; on the other side was a large chest, flanked by two more Goron statues.
Spike drew out his sword in preparation, and stepped forward. He was almost immediately glad he did, because the Keese sprang to life and dove down from the ceiling, aiming to strike him. He knocked away the first one with ease, then dodged the second one just moments before it hit him. He lashed out in the opening it provided, knocking the creature directly into the lava.
Spike wiped away a bead of sweat that'd formed on his brow, then re-sheathed his sword. "Alright, now that that's taken care of..."
Nuha and Hamzah watched in silent awe as Spike took off everything he had on him, set it down on the ground, and dove straight into the lava. "I don't think that's how this puzzle was meant to be solved..." Hamzah commented.
Spike slowly swam to the other side of the lava moat, pulling himself out with a bit of difficulty due to the viscosity of it. He shook himself clean of any remnant, then approached the chest. Inside, he found...
A large, golden key? "Alrighty, then..." Spike shrugged. Holding the item above his head, he swam back across the moat (it felt a bit soft in his hands, but didn't actually start melting) and reequipped his gear.
Nuha blinked at the item. "That's the boss key! With that, you can open the door to the final chamber."
"Really?" Spike took another moment to look at it. It was a horned design, with a red crystalline skull on one side. "Neato."
"I really don't think that's how the puzzle was supposed to be solved," Hamzah stressed.
Spike shrugged. "It worked, didn't it?" When Hamzah didn't answer, Spike sighed. "Look, if it makes you feel better, I'll try and do the rest of it how it was intended, okay?"
Hamzah nodded, contented. "Thank you, Spike."
When they reached the next room (the one across the entrance hall from the room they just were at), Spike quickly realized that, even if he wanted to, he wouldn't be able to cheat. This was due to the fact that, instead of a lava moat, the room was divided by a seemingly bottomless pit. Luckily, there was a door on this side, but it still sucked that the room's only chest was inaccessible. Otherwise, the room exactly mirrored the one they'd just been in, down to the boulder and Keese placements.
Spike took a moment to slay those Keese, then looked at the pit. "I may be a good jumper, but this pit is WAY too wide for me to cross. But why isn't it filled with lava like the last one...?"
Unbeknownst to Spike, Hamzah smirked knowingly.
The next room up was a small assortment of corridors formed out of statues. On the far end of the room was a chest, and scattered across the ground were...
"B-b-bones?" Spike paled at the morose sight. Indeed, the various bones of strange creatures were heaped in random places.
Nuha and Hamzah also seemed to be scared, but for a different reason. "Stalfos. They seem inactive for now, but be careful."
If it was at all possible, Spike paled even further. "I-inactive!?"
Nuha recognized the look on Spike's face, and flittered down to rest atop his hat. "I can tell you're scared, Spike, but you've gotta stay strong. For Twilight."
He took a deep breath, slowly calming his frayed nerves. "R-right. For Twilight."
Cautiously, he began to eke forward, sword at the ready. Thankfully, he made it halfway across the room without any issues.
Then the bones began to move.
"Uh oh," Hamzah exclaimed, "Here they come!"
Spike trembled violently as he watched the bones reassemble themselves, forming three strange bipedal creatures. The monsters turned to look at him with empty sockets for eyes, and the poor little dragon almost completely lost his nerve.
Then he felt a warm presence on his right shoulder and neck. He looked to find Nuha nuzzling up to him, giving him reassurance. Using her presence as a launching point, Spike steeled up his nerves and charged forward.
The first blow was dealt by one of the skeletons; it detached one of its ribs and threw it like a boomerang, catching Spike across the face. He stumbled momentarily, but kept charging forward, sword at the ready. As he swung, the skeleton who'd hit him leapt backwards, dodging the blade and getting another attack ready. But now, Spike was prepared; he used his shield to deflect the projectile, then lunged forward again. This time, when the skeleton dodged, Spike kept up and swung again, catching the skeleton across the torso. It staggered, before ultimately collapsing.
Then another skeleton approached, looking redder than the previous one. This one, instead of using its bones as projectiles, opted for a more direct approach: it leapt into the air before slamming down on the spot where Spike had just been standing. He dodged to the right, but the skeleton read his movement, lashing out an arm and hitting him in the shoulder. Spike winced as he felt his own bones threaten to give, but he pushed through, landing a hit on the creature's pelvis. But instead of falling like the last one, it remained standing, winding up another blow.
"Parry!" Hamzah exclaimed, catching Spike's attention. The little dragon braced himself, then, just as the skeleton's strike was about to connect, he swung his shield.
CHING!
The shield deflected the punch with a satisfying sound, staggering the skeleton. Spike took the opportunity to strike again, this time hitting the creature in the torso. That seemed to do the trick, as the skeleton, like the one before it, collapsed.
That left only one more skeleton. With a newfound confidence in his eye, Spike charged forward. The monster leapt backwards to dodge, but Spike was ready for that.
With a tremendous swing, the final skeleton collapsed like its brethren. Once the last one was downed, all three of them disappeared into purple smoke, some leaving behind little heart-shaped objects.
Spike stood there for a moment, panting as he registered that it was over.
Then he collapsed like a pile of jelly. "Sweet Celestia, that was scary!"
Nuha flitted near his head, cheering, "You did it! You beat them!"
Spike smiled, still shaken up somewhat. "I did, didn't I?"
Hamzah also seemed proud. "Not bad, kid; Not bad at all. Although you'd better pick up those health pieces before they disappear."
Spike looked around at the heart-shaped objects. He slowly got up, wincing at his injuries, and made his way over to one. The moment he stepped within a tile of it, it drew itself towards him, absorbing into his shoulder. He flinched at this, but quickly realized that absorbing the thing made his injuries feel measurably better.
Having been Twilight's #1 Assistant for his whole life, Spike had picked up a few things about magic. "Condensed restoration spells shaped like hearts? Cool trick, but why'd the skeletons drop them?"
Hamzah quickly explained, "Oh, don't worry about that; they were actually planted on enemies and in places like tall grass or pots by the Minish."
Spike raised an eyebrow. "The Minish?"
"Tiny mice-like elves that help travellers by giving them health and good fortune. They're also known as Picori."
Spike nodded slowly, "If you say so."
With that out of the way, Spike proceeded to collect the other heart that was dropped, almost completely healing him (although he could still feel traces of the injuries). He then continued down the aisles, reaching the chest rather quickly. Inside of it was...
"A dungeon map!" Hamzah exclaimed. "Now with an in-built compass."
"...okay?" Spike decided not to pursue it, instead opting to look at the map.
It was a rather simple layout, with a few small deviations from the norm; for example, the two upper left-most rooms were joined partially, creating an L-shaped bend around a smaller room. Other than that, it seemed to mostly follow the pattern that they'd observed to that point: 7x12 rooms surrounding a 15x12 entrance hall, with pits sectioning off important areas. There was even a tally of the number of chests in one of the corners.
"Alright," said Spike once he'd taken a good look over the map, "now that's taken care of, let's continue."