-Haunted Wasteland-

The sand beat at our faces and blurred our view. We jumped from flag until we reach a small pile of bricks - oh, excuse me - house of bricks.

We stopped and surveyed the area, trying to figure out what to do next. "Oh yeah!" Link exclaimed suddenly, making me jump. "Madeline, do you still have the Eye of Truth that the Deku Tree gave you?"

"What?" I shouted over the wind.

"The purple mirror with the eye in the center!" he repeated loudly.

"Yeah? What about it?" I pulled it out handed it to Link. He raised it to his eyes and looked around through it. "Follow me!" he shouted.

He lead us through the sandy terrain in a very peculiar motion of twists and turns, but I didn't question him. Eventually, the wind began to cease and I could see a large building at the end of the desert. "There!" I shouted. "I see it!"

The Spirit Temple was a grand, sanded building with two large statues in front of it. There was another raised platform in the middle of the sandy area like the one in the Temple of Time.

We entered the temple to be greeted by a young man, about Link's age, with a purple, skin-tight leotard, a white fabric face mask, and the Sheikah symbol on his front. "Ze-" Link stopped himself quickly, looking back at us. "Sheik?" Link asked, walking towards him.

"Hello, Link," the man said. "I see you're back from Termina. I hope the journey went on well?"

Link nodded. "Is there a problem, Sheik?"

Sheik turned his head to the door on the right. "You remember when you first beat the Twinrova? Well, I'm afraid they have, and they haven't been very sporting about it."

"What happened?" Link asked.

"Actually, I'm here to warn the Eye."

Sheik turned to me. His eyes blazed with fear. "Madeline, when you meet the Great Fairy, I need you to play her this song."

Sheik pulled out a harp and began to strum. I pulled out my ocarina, assuming he wanted me to play.

B_ C B A_ F B A

I repeated,

B_ C B A_ F B A

He put away his harp. "Remember this song. Play it for the Great Fairy at Zora's Domain." He stepped back, chucked a Deku nut, and disappeared.

"Who was that?" Emma asked.

"An old friend," Link replied, grinning. He headed towards the door and we followed close behind.

Once we entered, the door shut and bolted itself tightly behind us. We jumped as two sisters riding broomsticks swirled into view in front of us. One wore a red charm, and the other wore a blue. They laughed evilly. "Well, if it isn't the Eye of Silver," the witch with the blue charm said. "I must say, it has been quite a long time since we've seen you."

I knit my eyebrows. "You-"

"Yes, Eye of Silver, we have met you previously," the red one interrupted. "And I've hope you've put our little gift to good use."

Gift? I thought. What gift? I've never even seen these witches before.

"Ah, hello Link," the red sister hissed. "Sister, I think I have an idea on how to make our little friend here pay."

The blue sister laughed. "Ah, yes, sister, you certainly do."

They both maniacally laughed once more before spiralling up again while spraying sparks in every direction, then disappearing just as quickly as they had come.

The next thing I knew, my neck began to burn again and I fell to my knees. Darkness clouded my vision like smoke.

.

-Link's POV-

Once the Twinrova sisters disappeared, I heard a brief scream from Madeline. I unsheathed my sword and whipped around to find some sort of rune burning on her neck. She fell to her knees, clutching her neck. When she raised her head, the whites of her eyes had turned black and her normally blue-green eyes glowed purple. "Madeline?" Emma asked, approaching her cautiously.

Madeline whipped her head towards Emma, shooting a green light in her direction and throwing her at the wall. "Horse spit!" she cursed.

Madeline turned her gaze to me. She lifted herself up from the ground and floated above me, her piercing purple eyes shooting daggers in my direction. "She's possessed!" Emma yelled.

Madeline thrust her hands at me, sending some sort of sharp vines in my direction. I rolled forwards, barely missing the vines. "Nah, really?" I muttered under my breath.

I pushed myself to my feet as Emma ran up to stand beside me. "How do we fight her without hurting Madeline?"

I scanned Madeline, looking for a weakness. My eyes were immediately drawn to the fiery rune blazing on her neck. "The rune. It's source is fire. We need to freeze it."

"Not a problem," Emma said. She pulled a few white crystals from her pocket and handed them to me. "Aim for the rune. Try not to hit Madeline, or we'll be spending a few hours in the sun trying to unfreeze her." She rushed straight towards Madeline, who was now shooting vines in her direction.

Dodging her attacks wasn't easy. Not only was she fast in both her magic and reflexes, some of her vines chased me for a while before giving up.

Emma, as it seemed, wasn't having too much luck either. Whenever she hurtled a crystal at her friend, she knocked it back with a small green force field. If we ever want to beat her, I realized, we need to stop her magic.

Suddenly, a vine grabbed me from the stomach and lifted me up, squeezing my abdomen. My vision began to go blurry and I thought my lungs would burst.

I then felt cold needles plunging into my stomach. Shocked by the cold, I jerked, causing the now icy vines to shatter. I hit the ground with a big thud.

Madeline sent another vine in my direction. I scrambled to my feet and, thinking quickly, ran in and out of the vines she had sent at Emma. Pretty soon, her magic was caught in a knot. She strugged to untie them.

"Now, Link!" Emma ordered.

I threw a crystal in Madeline's direction, but she wasn't going down with out a fight. She whispered to herself, and a leafy shield began to form around the fiery rune, blocking the crystal. I cursed under my breath. I mumbled, "Forgive me for this, Madeline," and chucked a crystal at her chest.

Madeline screamed. Her vines turned to ice magically and shattered. She writhed at the cold forming around her from her heart, dragging her down from the air. Directly before the icy covering cased around her, her eyes regained there natural coloring and she let out one last yelp, the ice freezing that terrified look on her face.

"What in Hylia's name did you just do?!" Emma screeched.

"It was the only way to save her!" I yelled back. "She blocked her rune, what else could I have done?!"

"Not aim at her chest maybe?! Don't you realize that not only is she encased in ice, but her heart is now frozen?"

"What?" We both ran towards our friend. I placed my ear to her cold chest. Sure enough, I heard no beating. "What do we do?" I panicked.

"Well, the only way to save her is by Great Fairy magic. So unless-"

"Then we're in luck then," I butted in. "Because that's exactly why that portal is developing over there."

Emma turned her head to gaze at the blue light. "Then what are we waiting for?" She left me to carry the frozen Madeline and we stepped into the light together.

The portal's magic deposited us in front of a fountain hosting the Great Fairy of Magic. The Fairy had already emerged from the waters and sat in thin air with one hand under her chin and the other bouncing on her knee. "Hello, Link," she greeted. "It's nice to see you again. Thank you for freeing me!" She leaned in to see Madeline. "Ah, yes. I see the Eye of Silver has gotten into a little trouble, has she not?"

"Yes, O Great Fairy," I said. "Can you heal her?"

The fairy of magic titled forward with her arms outstretched. She used her magic to lift Madeline up and twirl her around. The icy case around her burst, and Madeline gasped in a gulp of air. The fairy set her down. She wobbled a bit, but Emma made sure she was able to stand. "Her body will need some time to thaw. I suggest you take a break from your quest so she may heal."

"Thank you," said Emma.

The Great Fairy smiled. "I presume you have realized that this young Gerudo is the Third?"

"What-what Third?" Emma asked.

"Long story," I told her. "I'll explain later."

Madeline removed her arm from Emma's shoulder and slipped out her ocarina.

B_ C B A_ F B A_

Madeline almost dropped the ocarina once the song had finished. As the mouth piece slipped away from her lips, the rune on her neck began to blaze again. She slipped her arm back onto Emma's shoulder before she could fall, and her friend struggled for a bit to regain her balance.

"Why hasn't it gone away?" I asked. "Surely if she had been possessed, it would have disappeared by now?"

"Oh, no Link," Emma answered. "This is no ordinary rune...Ganondorf used this magic to control his enemies."

"Yes, young Gerudo, you are quite right," the fairy confirmed. "Many years ago, when the evil king Ganondorf had first heard of the prophecy, he sent his minions the Twinrova to search for the Eye of Silver, the one person who could destroy his plans. They cursed her with the rune of evil doing. The rune appears as a fiery serpent on the neck or upper arm and blazes whenever it is triggered by a great magical force, such as the touch of Ganon, the magic of the Twinrova, or the Master Sword leaving the Pedestal of Time."

I stared at Madeline, who was almost ready to collapse from exhaustion. "How long will it last?"

Emma looked up with clouded eyes. "Eternity. This sort of rune is permanent. It will only leave her at Death's door, but even so, if she is touched by evil magic as she lay dying, the rune will return to her."

The Great Fairy returned to her original position. "I wish you luck on your journey, Link." She laughed in a bubbly tone and shrunk back down into the calm waters.

.

I played the Serenade of Water (while Madeline clung weakly to my shoulders), and Emma used her Deku nuts to warp to the lake. I helped Madeline across the bridges to the side of the waters where the scarecrows stood and set her down on the ground. She fell asleep almost immediately.

I sat down next to Emma, who was staring out over the lake. She glanced towards Madeline. "You really do care for her, don't you?" she asked.

I followed her gaze. Madeline was still fast asleep on the soft grass. Omaha lay down next to her. I smiled. He must be a very loyal horse. So much like Epona...

"Yes," I answer, turning back to look at the lake. "And I'm quite sure that you two must have a history as well."

"Ah, nothing much," said Emma. "She just used to deliver a few stolen goods to the Gerudo. I was always the one to pick them up."

"She stole things?" I asked in disbelief.

Emma nodded. "That was another aspect of the curse. It changes the person. Makes them do bad things. It sometimes drives them mad. Some have killed themselves for it."

I looked back at Madeline. "Do you think she will?"

Emma shook her head. "If I know Madeline, she is strong. I was the only one to meet her at the bridge because I was the only one who trusted her. We first met when I was smuggling a few things myself. I almost got caught, but she took me onto her horse." Emma grinned. "I remember how that man danced when we got away. We laughed at him the whole ride. After that she promised she would steal for me and bring them to the gate. The other girls knew how early she had come this time and suspected she was spying on us. That's why you two were captured when you came so disgustingly early."

I sighed. "So where do you think we're going next?"

"I think it's obvious," she replied. "What's the first place that pops into your mind when you think of ice?"

I knew immediately. "We leave once she is strong enough," Emma said, standing up.

I stood up with her and walked quietly over to Madeline. I slipped a blanket off Omaha's back and lay it over her. Her ocarina lay next to her on the ground. I picked it up slowly and examined it. It was made of wood, polished. It was obviously very expensive. I wondered how she got it. I slipped the ocarina into my pocket. Until she wakes, I told myself.