I woke up coughing out water. Ino glowed at the corner of my eye as I gasped for breath. "Oh, good," she said, relieved to see me breathing again. "I thought you were a goner."

The final Great Fairy of Magic stood in front of me. "Welcome, Madeline! I'm glad to see you survived this next task of your journey. You only have two more trials left."

"What is all the talk about trials?" I asked.

The fairy smiled. "You will find out soon enough - in your own time. I trust you know where to go for your next task?"

"Yeah, the Shadow Temple," I answered. "But how do I get there? I'm told you can only get there with permission from its Sage."

"Yes, you do need permission," she confirmed, "and the Sage happens to be close."

"Really?" I asked. "Where? How close?"

"The Sage of Shadow happens to be Impa, the Sheikah who watches over and protects Princess Zelda. My fountain happens to be in the castle grounds. She will know who you are. Just be careful not to be caught by the guards." She laughed and spiraled back into the fountain.

I remembered the shirt that had come from the boss. I slipped it out of my pouch and changed out the white shirt I had worn for this one. The shirt was a crystal blue with white specks that stretched over my elbows. It was quite comfortable and reminded me of the soft cotton sheets I had once slept in as a child. I folded up the other shirt and placed it in the pouch as I walked out onto the grounds.

It was late afternoon in the land of Hyrule, I had realized. Some of the soldiers were already exchanging places for the evening shift. "Ino," I asked, "how long was I out?"

"Oh, about two days. The Great Fairy healed you just before you were about to die, but she said it would take a while for you to recover," she answered.

Great, I thought. The more time I waste, the closer Link comes to death once Ganondorf finds out he doesn't have anything he wants.

It wasn't too hard to sneak past the guards guarding the path. There were so many gasps not filled in. I think the helmets the guards wore made them almost deaf. I could've tripped on a rock walking behind them, and they'd never notice. Some protection for the princess of Hyrule. It was as if they wanted me to sneak past. Seriously, guys? Wow. On one of the rounds, there were two guards, but neither of them saw me because one walked so fast he was practically tailing the other guard.

The princess sat in the courtyard reading a book when I rounded the corner. She looked up at me and gasped. "Why is it that it's so easy for everyone to sneak past the guards?" She sighed and laid down her book. "At least you aren't a man this time."

"What do you mean, Princess?" I asked.

She waved the question away. "Never mind that. Now, what do you want?"

"I'm looking for a Sheikah named Impa. I was told she worked at the castle?"

Zelda frowned. "Why do you ask?"

I pursued my lips. I reached into my pouch and pulled out the Ocarina of Time. "Do you recognize this?"

Zelda gasped and snatched the blue instrument out of my hand. "Where did you get this?" she demanded. "Did you steal it?"

"No! No, it belonged to a friend!" I shouted.

Zelda thought for a moment. "What did this friend of yours look like?"

I knit my eyebrows. " Um...about as tall as I am, green tunic with a long matching cap, carries around a sword-"

Zelda gasped again. "So you do know Link! Why do you have his ocarina?"

I chewed my lip. "Er - he kind of...I mean..." I trailed off.

"I see," Zelda said. She handed the ocarina back to me. "I won't force you to tell me what happened, or why you must speak with Impa. But I must ask you to promise me that you will help Link."

I nodded. "I swear to it."

A tall, slim woman appeared behind the princess. "I hear that I have been summoned?" she spoke.

Zelda looked at the woman, and then smiled back at me. "I'll keep you to that promise," she said before picking up her book and departing from the courtyard.

Impa grinned. "Ah, the Eye of Silver," she said. "I knew you'd show your face sometime soon."

"You knew I was coming?" I queried.

Impa laughed. "Of course I knew! For one, you're known all around the castle as one of the most common thieves. More importantly, I am a Sheikah. My tribe has been talking about you for a long time."

"So, you know why I am here?"

"Why, yes. I suppose you already know that I also happen to be the Sage of Shadow. I presume you search for the melody that leads to the temple?"

I nodded. "I'm ready."

Impa smiled. "I like your spirit, Eye of Silver. I hope we meet again someday. I wish you luck on your quest." She placed her fingers into her mouth.

B_ A_ A D B A F_

I repeated on my ocarina.

G_ F_ F C G F B_ A_ A D B A F_

The light surrounded me and carried me up into the heavens yet again.

.

-Kakariko Village Graveyard-

I landed facing a dark tunnel leading downward. An orange light glowed from inside the darkness. Ino popped out from behind my collar. "My glow can help guide you down," she offered.

I suppressed a shiver. I had never been afraid of the dark - only the image of what could live enveloped in its warming embrace. I happened to enjoy the darkness of the shadows. I valued its presence - the light shines out even brighter than before and has always offered a calm evening to sweep me into dreams.

In spite of the welcoming feeling of the shadows, I couldn't help but shudder at the darkness that stood before me, luring me into its thick halls. I knew another terror was waiting for me inside the dark temple. I smiled at my fairy companion. "Thank you, Ino." Ino sparked and fluttered close to me as to shed her light in the dark tunnels.

I cautiously stepped into the tunnel and felt the warmth of the light leave me. I shivered and shook the feeling away. This is only darkness, I told myself. The light hasn't left forever - it just can't reach the depths of the temple. As I descended down the steps, all of my feelings of safety began to leave me. I knew this was the design of the temple, especially when an evil force has taken it over.

Finally, at the end of the dark tunnel, I came across a dead end. The light left my soul and I felt so helpless and lost. I gingerly patted my hands against the wall. I just knew there was something there.

"I should probably leave now," Ino said.

"Wait, why?" I asked.

"You don't know?" I shook my head and knit my eyebrows. Ino sparked. "I should leave that to the Great Fairy." She faced the wall. "You know something is there. You can feel it, can't you? Just...close your eyes, and imagine the opening in the wall. Believe that something is there." With that, she disappeared behind my collar.

I didn't know what she meant by what I didn't know, or why she couldn't be with me as I "believed" that an opening was in the wall. However, she was right. I could feel that something was there. I knew from the deepest wrench in my gut that there was more to this dead end. Following her advice, I closed my eyes and latched onto that knowledge. When my eyes slowly opened, the cave was filled with a disoriented purple and blue tinge. I blinked. What is this? To my surprise, I could see, despite the fact that Ino had left and I could no longer see her glow. I had gone down so far, I couldn't even see the ray of moonlight coming from the outside entrance. I looked down. A small crawl-space lay to the right of my right foot. I groaned. "Why does it always have the be the crawl-space?" I muttered as I fell to my hands and knees.

Luckily for me, the wall wasn't very thick. The other side of the once hopeless dead end was now a large, dim-lighted room with torches on either side. The purple tinge had left my gaze and I felt a foul-smelling breeze at my face, as if a creature had huffed in front of me. I closed my eyes again and envisioned the creature in front of me.

I opened my eyes to again find the colored tinge at the corners of my eyes. A large, slim beast stood in front of me. It walked like a half-human, half-ape, but its face was all wrong. I still don't know what it was, but it was sort of like someone permanently stuck a twilight black shield on it face. Its head was alive with moving, snake-like black hair. Its chest bore a red-orange crossword puzzle marking. When it roared, it was so loud and high-pitched I thought I had just died. I choked back a scream and ducked my head. "Shadow beast," Ino whispered from behind once the screeching had ceased. When I looked up, two more beasts stood in front of me, dancing in a way as if to taunt me into fighting.

I could feel the power of the tinted vision more strongly this time. It energized my thoughts and actions as if I had been struck by lightning or surged with adrenaline. I felt the tingling green sparks at my fingers and felt the pulse to use it. This power runs on magic, I realized. I knew I had to hurry.

"Ino," I called over my shoulder, "will earth magic work down here?"

Ino sparked. "On normal circumstances, no, it won't. In this case, however, it looks like it already is."

I grinned and threw up my hands to the sky. Thick vines burst from the ground, blocking the beasts as they leaped at me. I was so excited I could have laughed. "It's time to see what I can really do."

The beasts were so ridiculously easy. They could bring each other back by roaring, so the trick was to kill one, and then the other two at the same time. I laughed at how weak they were and wondered why Ganondorf sent these tow idiots to the temple. Then again, there aren't many beasts who can fight in the darkness.

Once the beasts had flopped to the ground and disintegrated, I caught a glimpse at a black hole with a ring of blue light fading away at the ceiling. Orange sparks flashed from inside, and the hole quickly vanished. An item resembling the Longshot that Link had fell from where the hole had left. I picked it up, studied it a bit, and slipped it into my pouch.

The magic at the edges of my vision left, and I blinked, allowing the light of the torches to enter my retinas. I looked at Ino. "Was it just me, or was that fight disgustingly easy?"

Ino bounced. "A little too easy," she agreed. I stepped into the blue light in the center of the room and prepared to meet the Great Fairy of Courage.