Harmony of Heroes: Ultimate Multiverse Explorers [Parallel Quest]

by Cyrus Colter

Chapter 15: The Water Temple; Prelude to Courage.

After entering the temple, Sweetie Belle and Link followed the passage, getting out of the water on the way, until it led them to a huge flooded room with a giant central pillar. They were at the top level as more of the room could be seen under the water. Blue Tektites (same as the red ones except that they could float on water) were visible here and there, and there were a lot of Hookshot targets.

Exploring the surface, they found a passage at the right that led back underwater only to be a dead end for now, the path being blocked by a grid. There was however a block that they pulled, but once in place, it blocked the passage and couldn't be pushed back where it had been. This meant that to continue here, they would have to find a way to make the grid go away so they could push the block out of the way.

After returning to the flooded room, they spotted a door on a ledge on the opposite side of the room from the entrance. The ledge could be accessed only by using the Hookshot on a target on a dragon statue at the edge. However, the target was too far for Link, so he couldn't reach the door yet. A quick look by Sweetie Belle informed him that it was the door leading to the golden-chained door anyway. A locked door was also present at the left of the entrance, above a platform floating on the water.

And so they were left with only underwater to go. However, Link couldn't reach the middle and upper level doors and passages because he couldn’t swim well, and the Iron Boots dragged him straight down past them to the bottom.

Ultimately, they decided to explore what Link was able to to avoid missing anything.

The bottom level had four passages, but one between two torches particularly attracted their attention, so they went in that one first after fighting a few spiked balls simply named Spikes. Following it, they quickly entered a room where they found none other than the Zora princess herself, Ruto.

Obviously, she was surprised to see someone inside the temple. "Oh... You... If I'm right... Link?!" Upon recognizing Link, her expression immediately morphed into joy. "You're Link, aren't you? It's me, your fiancée, Ruto! Princess of the Zoras!"

"Fiancée?" half-shouted Sweetie Belle and Rota.

Link couldn't say anything however, not only because he couldn't talk underwater, but also because Ruto suddenly hugged him, which made him very uncomfortable.

"I never forgot the vows we made to each other seven years ago!" she continued before she flicked his nose. "You're a terrible man to have kept me waiting for these seven long years..." she playfully scolded. But then, her expression turned somber as she released Link. "But now is not the time to talk about love..."

"Yeah, we must save your people," said Sweetie Belle, finally managing to gain the attention of the Zora who looked down at her.

The next instant, Sweetie Belle was lifted and trapped in a bear hug by the princess. "Why, aren't you one of the most adorable things I even saw? Who are you, and what are you? I am so keeping you!"

Sweetie Belle teleported out of Ruto's arms before saying, "I'm Sweetie Belle, an alicorn pony. I'm helping Link in his quest to save Hyrule from Ganondorf. And now, we're trying to free your people from the ice."

Ruto immediately grabbed the filly again to continue to hug her. "So you saw it. I was trapped too until a young man named Sheik got me out... But the others are still in it... Even Father..."

"We saved him," said Sweetie Belle at this, deciding to let the princess hug her. "We got rid of the red ice that covered him. He's safe. However, we couldn't do anything for the others."

"So Father is safe? Oh, I'm so glad! I can't thank you enough!" shouted the princess in joy as she cuddled the filly. "But the others must still be saved... So you are here to help? To destroy the monster responsible for this?"

The heroes all nodded.

"Very well then! Let me help you! In this temple, there are three points where you can change the water level. One of these points is just above us. Let me guide you to it."

Then, without releasing Sweetie Belle, she swam up followed by Link (who had to take off the boots) and the Bage siblings. They passed in front of a cracked wall that could certainly be destroyed by a bomb (which wouldn't work because it was still underwater) before they arrived at a hole in the ceiling where the water stopped. There, Ruto finally let Sweetie go so she, Link and the siblings could get out of the water.

Ruto then pointed at a Triforce symbol that was on the wall, on some plate that glowed green. "Play the same song that you use to open the way to the Domain, and you will be able to lower the level of the water all the way to the bottom. It should open you WAAAAAHHH!!!" Ruto was suddenly grabbed by something underwater, and before Link and Sweetie Belle could do anything, she was gone. Sweetie Belle quickly jumped in the water to try to save her, but Ruto had already disappeared.

"Buck!" She got back out of the water. "That thing got her!"

The heroes exchanged worried looks before Navi said, "Don't worry. I'm sure we will save her."

Link nodded determinedly. "We must hurry to complete this temple."

He then took his ocarina and played Zelda's Lullaby in front of the Triforce symbol, successfully lowering the water level all the way to the bottom. After that, they passed the door that was in the room.

In the new room, bars appeared to block the door they just passed, trapping them in it and forcing them to fight a bunch of Spikes, which wasn't hard. Killing the Spikes made a big chest containing the map of the temple appear. After taking it, they returned to the previous room where they jumped in the hole now emptied of water, falling back to the room where they found Ruto.

With the water gone, a torch now had a flame that Link used to light two other torches, unblocking another barred door that led them in a room with three Shell Blades, shells with spikes. The shells were solid, so Link had no choice but to attack them when they had their mouths open. They had to be careful because, as they approached to make them open their mouths, the shells could suddenly turn around and jump toward them to hit them with their spikes. A small chest with a key appeared once all the shells were killed.

Now finished there, the heroes returned to the big room, now totally empty of water.

Thanks to the map, they saw that the South passage led almost directly to a dead end, so it would be rapid to explore. So they went here first until they reached a dead end with a cracked floor. With a bomb, Link blew it up, revealing a hole with water. They jumped in it and followed the passage (killing a Shell Blade on the way) until they left the water in a long room with a switch on a platform in the middle. Pressing the switch caused the water level in the room to rise a bit, making a dragon statue with a Hookshot target rise too. Climbed on another platform, Link used the Hookshot on the target to reach the ledge on which the statue was. Two Blue Tektites awaited them here, but the heroes made short work of them. They then hit the crystal behind the statue to raise the gate of some kind of cell in the back, letting them reach a small chest with some bombs as well as several jars with various stuff in them.

It wasn't much but Link didn't say no to more bombs as he will be apparently using them a lot in this temple.

Done in this passage, they returned to the main room. Here, they now had to choose between a passage to the West, a passage to the North, and a locked door at the foot of the central pillar.

Deciding to open the locked door last just in case the key could be needed elsewhere, they went to the nearest passage: the West one. It was blocked by a block, but thanks to the floating platform having lowered all the way down with the water, Link was able to reach it and to push it. Sweetie helped him by simply kicking the block to make it slide until it fell into a hole with water. They jumped in the water after the block and followed the revealed underwater passage until they popped out of the water in a room separated in two by a pit.

Hitting a crystal beside them made a pillar of water raise up. It was so powerful that when Link jumped on it, he was able to walk on it, using it as a platform to reach the other side of the room where Sweetie Belle killed a Blue Tektite with a beam. After passing a door, they then entered a room half-filled with water, the filled part having the statue of a dragon that looked serpentine like Volvagia. The body was coming out of the floor and was entering a wall beside a passage, and the head was coming out of that same wall at the other side.

A crystal was inside the mouth. Link was able to hit it with the Hookshot by standing on the body, opening a gate inside the passage. It didn't remain open long however so Link used the Hookshot again to reach the area behind the gate before it closed, Sweetie Belle and the Bage siblings having already killed the Shell Blades present here. They then popped out of the water further up in front of a chest with a key. Hitting another crystal here opened the door again for them to retrace their steps. In the room with the pit, Link used the Hookshot to reach the other side, a target being present just below the edge.

"You know, with all these targets, some of them being out of range for your Hookshot, I'm starting to think that you will get a longer one somewhere in this temple," commented Sweetie Belle.

Link and the Bages agreed. It was logical.

Back in the main room, they then went to explore the last passage, the North one, only to find out that they needed water here.

So this left them with the locked door at the foot of the pillar. Climbing on another platform that could float on water that let them reach the door, they unlocked it and entered the pillar.

They walked on another platform floater at the beginning of a small path with spikes at both sides. Advancing carefully, they then looked around once they reached the end, finding a Hookshot target further up on a platform in a corner.

Above the platform was a Triforce symbol on a red plate, so Link immediately played Zelda's Lullaby, making the water rise to the second level. The platform floater from the beginning raised up with the water, revealing a new passage that was under it. So they went to explore this passage instead of passing the door that was beside them.

The passage led to a room that was entirely underwater with two grids in the ceiling, as well as a crystal which, when struck, opened one of the grids, dropping several Spikes and Shell Blades. Their death caused the other grid to open up, leading them to an out-of-water dead end with a chest holding a key.

With the new key in their possession, they returned inside the pillar, climbed out of the water in front of the exit door in the second level, and passed it.

With the water raised to the second level in the main room, they had the choice between two new passages (South and East) and a new locked door (West again). But first…

“Say, wasn’t there a cracked wall back in the room we first found Princess Ruto in?” Rota asked suddenly. “The water was a little high up to do anything about it, but with the water at its current level, we should be able to reach it.”

“You’re right! We should go check it out,” Navi agreed.

“Huh. I noticed at the time, but had almost forgotten.” Link said. “Thanks.”

"The East passage doesn't lead far too," Marko remarked as he and Sweetie Belle looked at the map. "And the South one leads back to the hallway with the block we pulled just after entering the temple. In the end, it doesn't matter where we go first. They each lead to dead ends with probably a chest."

"Let's start with the cracked wall," Link decided.

So they jumped in the water and returned to the room where they found Ruto. They then popped out of the water just in front of the cracked wall, as they thought. So Link used a bomb to blow it up, discovering a secret room with a chest containing a key.

Next, they went to the East passage where Link had to carefully use the Hookshot to not hit spikes while getting on a platform. Another shot with the Hookshot and they were in a room with a crystal and a big chest in a pillar of water. Hitting the pillar caused the water to disappear, but not long enough to reach the chest in time by running. The solution would be to hit the crystal with a projectile while being beside the water, but Link simply decided to hit the crystal and to let Sweetie Belle open the chest, getting the compass. While returning to the main room, they watched out to not accidentally jump on the spikes.

Finally, the South path... which was blocked by a gate, and to open it, Link had to hit an eye-interrupter in an alcove just below. However, opening the gate wasn't enough because Link couldn't reach the passage in time before it closed. There was a Hookshot target, but it was too far.

“Looks like we’re coming back here, unless you want one of us to just rip the bars out,” Rota quipped as they all made the realization.

“No, let’s just go to the locked door,” Link replied.

And so they went to the Western door, unlocked after climbing onto the platform floater. In the room behind, they had to hit a crystal to raise up a water pillar to reach the room above. However, the pillar was too far to be on it while hitting the crystal with the sword so it would raise up with them on it, so Link used his bow while Sweetie Belle killed a Blue Tektite that bounced on them from the hole above. Once in the room above, they passed the only door here.

This led them just in front of the third Triforce symbol, this time on a blue plate, back in a small alcove in the main room in the upper level (with bars blocking the door behind them). Link played Zelda's Lullaby and the water was raised back to its original level. Then, they climbed on the platform floater in the West and unlocked the door here.

After killing a pair of Keese, they saw that they had entered a huge room with a big waterfall that went into a seemingly bottomless pit. Platform floaters with Hookshot targets were on the waterfall, moving down it and disappearing in the pit only to be replaced by new ones at the top. But first, they had to go down by jumping on two successive platforms, the second one moving up and down back and forth. From the second platform, Link then used the Hookshot to move from platform to platform and climb the waterfall until reaching the top where he used the Hookshot one last time to reach the exit, which was locked.

After unlocking it, they entered a room with a red crystal on a pillar and three statues of dragon heads on different platforms. Like in a previous room, hitting the crystal (with a projectile) made the level of the water in the room rise along with the statues. However, there, Link couldn't use all of the statues because the second's target was just above the water, meaning that Link would fall in the water if he used the Hookshot on it and he would have to restart from the beginning. The problem was that the second statue was on a narrow path, so the heroes had to hit the crystal again to lower the water level along with the statues so Link could climb on the head of the second statue and pass it. They then raised the water level and the statues again so Link could Hookshot the third statue to reach it. They had to lower and raise the water level a last time so Link could climb on the head of the third statue and use it as an elevator to reach the exit. While Link and Marko worked on traversing the Hylian through the room, Sweetie Belle and Rota killed the many Blue Tektites in the room to gain time, as well as the Like Like at the exit, behind spikes. The killed Like Like let Link the Hookshot a last time to pass the spikes without risk, reaching the exit door.

They passed it, and entered... a strange place.

It seemed to be an infinite ocean disappearing into a fog, with ruins here and there and a small island with a single dead tree in the middle.

Were they still inside the temple? It looked like this as they could see an exit door at the other side, but then, what was this place? A pocket dimension inside the temple?

Whatever this place was, it was putting the entire group on edge.

After recovering from the shock of finding such a place in a temple, they carefully advanced, discovering that they somehow could walk on the water, adding to the unnatural feeling of the place.

“Okay, not the strangest thing we’ve encountered, but still off-putting.” Rota noted.

“First time we’ve had a room like this,” Marko said, expecting an immediate quip from his Saiyan sister. When she failed to respond, he turned to face her.

Only to find her staring at him, Sweetie Belle, and Link’s reflections in horror.

Looking down at hers, he quickly found the reason for her horror.

“Where’d our reflections go?” He asked aloud, alerting the Hylian and filly, who had gotten closer to the exit to the phenomenon.

The group then spotted their reflections… facing them from the island.

The color drained from Rota’s face as the reflections then rose from the water in translucent shadowy forms.

As Marko and Link prepared fight their respective shadows, Rota noticed the shadow of Sweetie Belle start to glow.

“Oh SHIT!” The Saiyan said as she grabbed her human brother and dipped into Instant Transmission immediately after Sweetie Belle teleported herself, Link and Navi out of the temple, following the fillies power as far as she could. The last thing heard before they warped out was the faint slap of Marko's shadow doing a facepalm.

The next instant, the Water Temple, Lake Hylia and a good amount of land around disappeared in a huge explosion that could be seen from everywhere on Hyrule and even on the lands around.

Nothing was left of the lake but a big crater, and the lands around were totally ravaged.

---

Din and Nayru, respectively Goddess of Power and Goddess of Wisdom, were glaring at Farore, Goddess of Courage. Both Goddesses had their arms crossed in visible annoyance, and Din was even repeatedly tapping the ground with the front of her foot while the third Goddess was looking at them sheepishly.

"I didn't think she was that powerful!" then said the Goddess of Courage.

"And you didn't think to ask me, the Goddess of Power, to see if creating a double of her was alright," stated Din.

"Or at least to create a pocket dimension for them to fight without risking the destruction of Hyrule," added Nayru.

"How was I supposed to know that the double would just... blow up? It could have simply sent some powerful beam or I don't know, which would have only partially destroyed the temple and it would have made itself disappear! But no! It exploded!" shouted Farore in exasperation.

The two other Goddesses just sighed and shook their heads at this.

"At least, Era will be able to fix it," muttered Nayru.

"Speaking of, be ready to face her, Farore," Din said. "She will be in a very bad mood now that she has to fix your screw up. This era already makes her prickly, and the intervention of these outsiders hasn't helped although she has been nice to them."

Author's Note:

Am I delaying having to write the fight between my OC's and their shadows by following the original beats this closely?

Yes.

Am I sorry?

No.

Comments

[Lucar]

Dark Marko facepalming made me roll on the floor in laughter.

[Cyrus Colter]

11882924
They truly are doubles.

Also, I use the Comedy tag, liberally.