"Ehhhhh..." Matt squinted, waggling his hands like little seesaws. "I saw a blue light, which is probably the Essence, but who knows if that's not just a part of the monster."

"It's still a lead," Helena said. "We should check it out."

Hugo humphed. "I just hope that fortune teller's as right as you say she is. We don't need to waste any more time."

Link nodded, turning back to Telma. "So, can we use your wagon? It'd get us to Lake Hylia quicker."

"Alright, honey," Telma said, consenting. "Just keep it in one piece, you hear? I want it back."

Link nodded. "I'll have Auru bring it back when he returns, after I meet with him."

Matt leaned over to Helena. "When we get out of here, we're takin' the car," he whispered. "I'm not taking a stupid wagon again."

"Don't cause any more of a scene," she whispered back. "We're already in trouble."

"Get your stuff and let's go," Link commanded as he proceeded to the door of the bar. "We're going to the lake now."

When they stepped outside, Link took them up, back to the pavilion, before taking the street out on their left, past a large cathedral. Beyond it were stables, filled with unusual blue-furred goats with conjoined horns, and horses of various breeds. Stopping at the stables, Link appropriated one particular horse and a wagon to go with it, which he guided outside of the gates, the others following.

Yeah, Link, have fun riding your horse. Matt had his own horse. Like, five hundred of them that made this car purr like a dream loaded up with rocket fuel. He kept his hand in the pocket of his pants, where he had stored the folded Firebird. Wonder what it would be like to drive around here.

"Don't," R.D. said warningly. He knew what Matt was thinking of doing.

"Don't what?" Link asking, looking back as he guided the wagon across the drawbridge and into Hyrule Field. There were trees and patches of flowers along a curving path, as well as wandering, reptilian creatures with large metal shells on their backs... along with goblins wandering about, dressed like brigands.

"Not you," R.D. said, shaking his head. "Matt's just thinking of attempting something that'd frighten the horse."

"Yes, please don't," Link said, looking forward again. "Not every horse is as well trained as Epona, and even she gets skittish at times."

When Link finished preparing the wagon, he pointed off in the direction of the gap between two hills. "Come follow me to the amphitheater," he said. "I'll show you where what the Lake's like."

"W-Wait," Helena said, holding up her hands. "An ampitheater? Where?"

"Don't get your hopes up," Link said, looking over at the girl. "Its not much... not anymore."

"What do you mean by that?" Alasea asked, cocking her head to the side.

"You'll see," he said, stepping off the path towards the gap. "Come on, follow me."

He lead them over the rise in the land, where they saw the ruins of an ancient--and, as Link had hinted, tiny--amphitheater built into the cliff-face. Three stairwells cut down it on either side, and parts of the lowest stands before the stage were destroyed entirely, leaving two short pillars still standing among a pile of toppled columns. The pillar to their right had a brownish-black owl statue resting atop it, staring out at them.

Beyond it, however, was a wondrous view of Lake Hylia.

Hundreds of feet below them, a massive body of water stretched out, the surface gleaming as the sun struck its pure waters. In its center, a massive plateau rose up, topped with a gigantic tree stump not unlike the one that was the Forest Temple. At its base appeared to be a shrine of some sort at the waters' edge. Connecting the tree-topped plateau with the nearest cliffside was a massive and ancient stone bridge, its supports long destroyed, though luckily the bridge still stood and appeared to be very sturdy.

"Wow," Ileyna breathed, taking it all in.

"... has anyone else noticed just how beautiful this land is?" Alasea asked, sounding very quiet. She heard of the old saying that standing next to an ocean can make you feel small. This was the first time she'd felt that way around a lake, though.

"It's gorgeous," Helena said, also rather quiet, staring out into the water.

R.D. could see farther out, take in just how large Hyrule was. To the east, before the cliff blocked their view, they could see the forest from which they had arrived in this world; including a gigantic tree--or maybe multiple ones--rising high above the canopy.

The rest of it, out ahead of them, was vast fields and various plateaus, and even further beyond were the distant peaks of mountains.

"It shouldn't take us too long to get down there if we take the wagon," Link said. "Telma's horse is stronger than Epona; he's able to haul that cart as easily as Epona can run unburdened, even with it loaded up."

After that, its seeing how well they deal with Falbi, Link mused. He looked back at them. "Let's get going. You can tell me about those creatures we fought along the way."

"Easy," Matt remarked with a lazy hand wave. "They're hellspawn who eat hearts and I don't know where they keep coming from."

"I get the feeling that there's more to them than just that," Link replied evenly. "Just like I did when it came to Midna, and the Shadow Beasts."

... he was scarily perceptive, R.D. decided. "I noticed you were talking about them coming in through portals," Link continued. "That caught my attention immediately, because Midna and Shadow Beasts can take advantage of portals themselves."

Matt tilted his head. Now he was interested. "Really. I've seen them come out of portals before, but I never did find the source of them. You thinkin' there's a connection between them and Zant?"

"Normally, I would think so," Link said as he made sure everything was fine with the wagon. "But now, I don't think so. I heard R.D. say he didn't see any portals. And I'm sure you weren't talking about the one that's above you."

"Above us?" Alasea said, looking up. "... oh."

Up above, a layer of blackness hung well above them in the air, the edges geometrical and sharp in appearance. Blue lines of energy intersected in similar geometrical patters, except for in the circular center, where they formed a spiral as they were sucked into a vortex.

"Midna and I can use those to get around Hyrule quicker," Link explained. "But you guys lack the ability to use them. They're normally formed after I slay the Shadow Beasts that created them to arrive... I don't see any portal like that over the pavilion right now."

"Figures it wouldn't be that easy," Hugo remarked.

Helena looked at Matt and leaned in close to whisper. "Does that mean they could still be part of Malvettix?"

"Could be," Matt whispered back. "Maybe he was the original source all along."

"So, who's this Malvettix fellow?" Midna asked, slipping out of Link's shadow and causing them all to jump as she appeared. Link looked back at her for a moment, then looked at the others.

"Gahhhh!" Matt cried out, raising his hands. "Don't DO that!"

"He's a copy of Matt," Hugo explained, now completely unnerved by Midna. "He looks like he's made out of a dark substance and can morph his shape to create various weapons. His touch can also cause fear in the victim."

Matt raised his hand. "Personal experience."

"He's summoned Heartless before, so right now we think he was behind today's attack," Hugo said.

Link didn't like the idea of that. "You think he'll come after us personally?" he asked.

"We know he will," R.D. said tiredly. "Malvettix has something against Matt, and we're not as strong as we used to be. We can count on it happening."

"Just what we need," Midna muttered, floating back over to Link as he picked another horseshoe-shaped reed from the ground. "Another lunatic with power over shadow."

Link blew into the reed, issuing the notes to call Epona to him. Like magic, the horse could be heard in a few minutes, galloping towards Link. "Do you know any way of stopping him?" Link asked as he climbed up into the horse's saddle.

Matt scrunched his shoulders upwards to the sides of his neck like he was a turtle. "Hell, I was just planning to hit him with fire until he dies. That's how we did it before."

"But we don't know how well it'll work that time," Hugo said, walking over to Helena.

"You got any better ideas? Besides running away?

R.D. sighed. "We know light-based attacks hurt him the most," he explained. "We're just not sure if our light attacks are strong enough. Alasea's aren't, we know that much already."

"We were thinking, earlier," Alasea started up as she picked up the reins to the wagon horse, urging the animal forward once everyone was aboard the wagon. Epona picked up at a steady trot. "That sword of yours... we think it may be able to seriously hurt Malvettix."

"The Master Sword?" Link queried, looking over his shoulder at the sacred blade. "Its possible. Its known as the Blade of Evil's Bane... if this Malvettix creature is as evil as you say he is, I may be able to kill him with it."

Edited by RisingDragon on February 20, 2010 at 20:49:46.

Matt folded his legs, let his hands fall over his feet. "Well, if we do fight him, here's hoping you can kill him, then. The sooner off our backs, the better."

They proceeded through the gap in the hills, coming into a small canyon of sorts, with Link leading the way, his bow at the ready and an arrow nocked. Ahead was a fork in the road, splitting off right and left as they went downhill.. "Head left when we get there," Link told Alasea, before lifting up his bow.

Up ahead was another one of those goblins they had seen earlier--Link called them Bulblins. He quickly drew back on the bow and fired, killing the creature instantly as the arrow embedded itself into its throat. "So how long have you guys been at this quest of yours?" Link asked, making conversation as he looked around, in case there were more Bulblins lying in wait.

"Too long," Hugo said. Helena was now propping him up on the wagon's edge as they both scanned the landscape for enemies. "Way too long."

They rounded the bend to their left, where the canyon trail continued to bend around for quite a ways. Eventually, it opened up into the cliff they had spied earlier at the amphitheater. Once again, the road forked, with one continuing to the right alongside the canyon wall, the other snaking down towards the bridge, where a large open gateway stood, with partially-buried boulders behind it.

At the fork was a wooden advertisement sign, with three chickens designed atop it. Painted on it was a rather... flamboyant-looking man's face. It read:

Lake Hylia's Newest Hangout:
Fyer & Falbi's Watertop
Land of Fantastication
Head Right -> for the
Flight-by-Fowl main attraction.

Link glanced at the sign and seemed to repress a sigh. "This way," he said, motioning to the right-hand path. Ahead, they could see some kind of canyon at the end of the path, partially obscured by the rock wall.

"Something the matter?" Alasea asked as she guided the horse in the specified direction.

"There's only one way down to Lake Hylia besides jumping off the bridge or teleporting," Link said. "You'll see in a few minutes."

"That sign is also being saucy!" Matt remarked, jabbing a finger at it. "This world's sauciness is almost unbearable."

"You haven't seen anything yet," Link muttered. Before the path got too narrow, he stopped both Epona and the wagon, telling them to disembark. They walked the rest of the way, and the fence quickly obscured their view of Lake Hylia down below. Soon the ground was covered by a wooden ramp, and up close, the building looked much larger than before. There was only one door, and Link proceeded inside, followed by the others.

Inside was an expansive room, more of an open-air deck, really. There was a loft above them, with a ladder to their right leading up to it. The floor ahead had a large emblem of a yellow bird painted on the floor. And scattered throughout it were a number of chickens, wandering about aimlessly.

"Grab a Cucco and follow me," Link said, picking up a black-feathered chicken--or rather, Cucco, as he called it.

Helena's face scrunched, and she looked down at a particularly speedy Cucco. "Why? What're you doing?"

"This is how you get done to the Lake without hurting yourself," Link said, ignoring the squabbling the Cucco was making as it was held against his side by his right arm. "Grab one. They'll fret but they're not difficult to handle. Ileyna could fly down with Hugo, so she doesn't need to grab one."

"If you say so," R.D. said, picking up one with brown feathers. Immediately, the bird started squawking and flailing, but like Link said, it wasn't too hard to keep a hold on it.

Matt leaned to one side, balnacing his left wrist on his hip. "Yeah, I don't think so," he said, lifting his arm and shifting to wind. "I'm gonna do this the smart way."

"If you're going to fly, take me too!" Helena said.

"Yeah, that definitely won't end up in disaster. You know I can't really carry you and fly at the same time, right?"

Helena reached down and scooped up a protesting chicken. "Then when we get a chance, you're teaching me how to fly, okay?"

"... yeah, I think I'm flying too," R.D. said, dropping the Cucco, which calmly scampered away, as if it had never been picked up.

Link nodded. "What about you, Alasea?" he asked.

"I think I'll go with R.D.," she said after a moment of hesitation. Better than flying with a damn chicken, but... she glanced over at R.D., who was ahead of her, and flushed slightly. This was going to be interesting.

"Alright then," Link said, turning back around and heading down into the deck. At the exit leading out into... air, the man whose likeness was painted on the sign outside. His face was done up in clown makeup, and a stupid pointed hat sat on his head. A midriff-baring green shirt with puffy sleeves and a bright orange pair of pants, also flaring out from his legs, made for a... rather disturbing appearance.

"Well, hi there!" he greeted, waving at them cheekily. "Welcome to Falbi's Flight-by-Fowl! Are you ready for a flight full of dreams and sweet, sweet bonuses? A Cucco-powered ride down to Lake Hylia? You will LOVE it!"

R.D. blinked. No wonder Link didn't seem happy to come here. He wasn't sure he wanted to be here anymore either.

"Next up for fantastication... SIX BIG GUYS!" Falbi exclaimed, ignoring the fact that three of them were girls, one of them being a young child. He clapped his hands once. "Right, then that's 120 rupees, for a ticket to the Isle of Riches. How about it, partner?"

"Only two of us will be using your Cuccos, Falbi," Link explained. "The others can get down on their own."

"... right," he said, looking disappointed as Link handed him forty rupees. "Well, awright! Thanks, partner! Well, you've got your Cuccos already, so you just need to try to sail to the Isle of Riches!"

The man stepped out onto the tiny deck past the fence, allowing them passage. Link stepped forward first, and pointed to the land past the the artificial islands down below. "We're headed over there," he said. "Helena? Just hold your Cucco over your head when you jump, and follow me down. Don't worry about the bird, its stronger than it looks."