Play "Midna's Lament" from Twilight Princess!
Dungeon 3: Evening Temple
Mission: Rescue the Fall Maiden.
The Evening Temple resembled a mansion that covered a wide area of (midair) land. The mansion was built with a posh, purple chrome and had potted plants and flowers that glimmered orange. However, there was an unsettling emptiness about it… with the exception of monsters lurking about. Link was standing on the chrome front courtyard, a set of stairs leading up to the entrance, but it was locked. There were tall shadowy Bari floating around, their brains glowing orange. When Link approached them, they would spin rapidly, go above him, and try to drill into him, but he dodged the first one by a hair's breadth. Toward the left of the yard was a garden of dry flowers.
"Master, these appear to be Bomb Flowers." Ayri spoke in a droll, gloomy tone; Link had decided to change her personality to fit this setting. She was also fit with a sweater with hands in her pockets and dark eye paint. "They appear to be withered with a lack of water. Just like my soul…"
"Hehe, this will be fun." Link giggled at her out-of-character tone. Link went up the stairs and found a small waterfall pouring into a ravine. Link caught some water in his bottle, and it glistened in the twilight. Link brought it to water a Bomb Flower. It seemed that his arrows or other weapons couldn't puncture the Baris' heads, so he lured them over and let the Bomb Flowers be caught by their suckers. He destroyed them one by one, and one of them had a key. Back where the flowers were, Link had also noticed a strange track going along the side of the mansion and over the abyss. "I bet that's for the dungeon item."
Link unlocked the front door. He was in a wide passage with a door on the left and right, plus one at the end. All three doors were barred, but the end door had an empty slot next to it. As Link searched around for a solution, robed creatures with orange eyes emerged from the shadows and cast quick spells at him. Link would see their shadows move around behind objects before emerging, and he used his Yiga form to focus better on them, shooting the Shadow Wizzrobes until they were down. Doing so would open the barred doors. The west door had a passage with suspended tracks, separated tracks going over a pit of water, but Link had no way to cross them, so he exited and entered the east door.
This mostly empty room had a Sol in the center, being held in the fingers of a large, black hand. When Link walked onto the main floor, the hand snapped shut on the Sol, glowing with red lines. It would reopen when Link stepped back to the door. Link shot arrows at the small paintings around the room, opening them to reveal Sheikah Spots. There was also one above the entrance, but the pictures would close after a few seconds. Link acted quickly to Ninja Leap to a right target, leap to a left and grab the Sol in-between, then return to the start without the hand detecting him. He brought the Sol to the hall and inserted it in the empty slot beside the end door. The bars opened, and Link entered a large dining room.
A Shadow Beast attacked him, but Link repeated his strategy, knocking it dizzy before playing the Song of Healing. He killed the mask and rescued a butler-looking Twili. "Oh, thank you, kind one. Because of this dreadful curse, my family is missing their evening dinner. Would you use your power to rescue the six other family members? Start with this direction."
Link noticed seven barred doors around the long room. The butler opened the southwest one. "Ah, it's one of these dungeons. Well, if I focus on one area at a time, I won't get confused." Link reasoned as he entered the door. This led to an outdoor terrace with strange flowers in the garden. It seemed the middle-left door would've led to an enclosed staircase up to the 2nd floor, and the upper-left door branched to its own enclosed path.
There were some twilit butterflies fluttering about, with a good bunch of them flying above the pond. Link, thinking the pond was deeper than it appeared, donned his Mask Enguarde and dove in. There was a Crystal Switch at the bottom of a deep pit. Link struck it with his sword-nose, opening another door on the terrace. However, slots opened within this pit as metal spikes fell in, the hero quickly dealing Torpedo Spins to keep them at bay. He resurfaced and entered the new door. It had stairs leading down into the basement floor, but Link was greeted by a powerful fan blowing from up a corridor.
Link saw the Sheikah Spot moving to and fro along the left wall. He became a Yiga and could leap to it when it was close to him, clinging to it despite the strong wind. The target passed by a hole on the opposite wall with a switch, and he was able to shoot it to turn the fan's direction. The fan would blow down a rightward passage with a chasm. Link became a Rito to fly across, but just as the hall turned left, there was an inactive fan to Link's right—still in midair, he had to quickly draw his bow and shoot a switch behind the fan, blowing wind to the end of the passage. Link could set foot on a platform with a door, and he hit a switch to deactivate all the fans and make a bridge cover the chasm.
Link entered the door and found a child's playroom with blocks and a small slide. A small Shadow Beast tried to avoid him as it threw hard dolls as a means to damage Link. He used his Rito wings to hit a doll back to dizzy the beast, then performed the Healing Song to unmask it. After killing the mask, he had rescued a young Twili girl with long pink hair. "Thank you, Mister. Could you please bring me to the dinner room?"
"Sure, but do you know where I could find a map of this place?"
"Um, I stuck the map into that little hole in the wall. Hehe, I wanted to see if it would fit." She pointed to the hole in question. It was too high up the wall for his Minish form to climb, but he could push the girl's small slide in range of it. The end of the slide curved up, so he climbed atop it, became a Minish, and slid down as the end flung him into the hole. He landed in a small compartment where the map lay.
"You cannot take the map in this state, Master, but I can copy it onto the Sheikah Slate. I'm a real convenience to you, huh?"
You got the Dungeon Map! The architect worked very hard to make sure the measurements were precise, and yet some girl sticks it into a hole like a piece of trash. At least you'll always have this digital copy!
Link escorted the child through the windy passage and up to the terrace, but Shadow Miniblin appeared, scaring the girl into hiding. Link used his Yiga form to deal with them quickly, and once defeated, the girl came out of hiding and followed Link into the dining room. "Thank you, Mister. But would you please help my mommy? She said she was going to the family beach."
"Then I shall use my mystical powers to open the way~" the butler said as he opened the middle-left door. Link entered and walked up a flight of stairs to an upper walkway, able to look over the terrace through the bars. Shadow Baba attacked him, so Link did away with the pesky plants. The walkway led him to another outside area with umbrella tables, in which the umbrellas were fallen to block the sunset. There were glasses of juice, from which Yellow Chu jumped out. Link did away with the blob creatures, but the door ahead was barred off. Link noticed a boulder with a Sun Switch beside a table, behind its umbrella. He simply cut the umbrella up, so the sunset could touch the sun, which glowed as the bars opened.
Past the door were stairs leading down to a lower level. Link was still outside as four palm trees were grown around; their orange leaves hung low and sad. Link rolled into them, and one dropped a Small Key, which could be used to open the locked door on the opposite end. A barred door was south of the room, with a sign that read, Make the leaves turn gold with joy as they dance in succession. He wasn't sure if he had the solution to this clue, so he opened the locked door and proceeded. (Pause song.)
The door immediately sealed with bars once he passed. Link could sense a battle approaching. The door led him to the mansion's beach, stairs leading him down to the coast. There were a few palm trees with Sheikah Spots on them. The twilit waves brushed along the beach, the sunset glistening off the waves. They created a peaceful ambience. He breathed the relaxing air as he removed his boots, letting his feet be soaked in the gentle waves. His soul felt at peace as he gazed into the twilight. The soft sun did not hurt his eyes at all. He could almost fall asleep, gazing into it. His body glowed under the rays of the twilight… enveloped in a sort of peach color…?! (Play "Phantamanta" from Mario Sunshine!)
This glow was not due to the twilight: an enormous, peach-colored, manta-shaped shadow was slithering up from the ocean. As its body covered Link like a blanket, he saw his feet sink into the shadow like quicksand. "WAAAAAAH!" He frantically pulled his legs out and bolted up the beach, getting out of the manta's shadow.
Sub-boss: The Twilight Ray
The spooky manta followed Link's direction at an eerily slow pace. He shot normal arrows, then Fire Arrows, but they would only be enveloped by the beast's shadow like a portal. Furthermore, whenever the manta crossed the palm trees or boxes, they sank into its form. Link came upon a few Bomb Flowers and tried to throw them into the shadow, but their fuses dispersed upon entering the creature.
"Target locked: Twilight Ray. This ethereal creature pulls its prey into its shadow to be slowly digested. Flames will disappear upon passing the manta's shade. However, objects that are rooted to the ground such as trees will not float with the manta, and can be recovered by shooting Fire Arrows at their shadows. You can also see the eaten objects floating around inside its body. Sigh, being eaten by a shadow manta… what better way to die?"
Link, thinking of a plan, went to one of the sunken trees' shadows and did as instructed to make it rise out. He leapt to its target in Yiga form, and from this height, he could see the objects' shadows floating inside its being. Link aimed his bow at one of the eaten Bomb Flowers and loosed: the arrow entered the manta and pierced the bomb, exploding inside the creature. Its body split into two smaller mantas. One of them kept after Link while the other went to lurk around the other sunken trees. Link chose to focus on his pursuer, running to retrieve another bomb and throw it into the manta. He restored a palm tree and leapt onto it. Both mantas were coming for him, but he shot the bomb inside the previous one and split it into two more pieces.
Those smaller mantas fled, so Link repeated the process on the other large manta, splitting it up for a total of four mantas. Only two mantas would target him while the other two would swim freely, but would target any trees that he rose up. Link would restore some trees to distract the mantas while he focused on his pursuers. Feeding them each a bomb, then shooting an arrow from a tree, those four mantas each split into four smaller mantas, making 16 total. Fortunately, their smaller sizes made it easier to see the swallowed bombs, so Link didn't need the palm trees to get a good shot and split them up further.
The smaller mantas pursued him faster, while half swam away. Link ran past Bomb Flowers to trick them into eating, then tried to stay far from them as he focused and shot the bombs. When the mantas were at their smallest sizes, a total of 64, they turned purple and all swarmed at Link, the air ringing with their chirping sounds. He was panting heavily as he ran around and fed them all a bomb, working hastily to aim and shoot. He then realized he could use Fire Arrows to set the released boxes on fire, making updrafts for his Rito form, with which he could shoot the mantas from above. Steadily, he destroyed every manta. The last three posed no threat to Link, their sounds having become more quiet and less successive. Two left, one left, and then the beach was free of mantas. (Resume "Midna's Lament.")
A chest made of Sheikah Tech emerged from the center of the beach. Remembering from last time, Link inserted his slate into the slot. Blue energy data flowed up into the slate. Afterwards, Link pulled it out, and Ayri jumped as a large top appeared under her feet, gliding her around the ground. Link smiled at the fun-looking device and was eager to try it himself.
You got the Spinner Rune! This super-sized toy will carry you up tracks and can be used on certain devices! You can use other items while riding the Spinner!
The northern cliff of the beach had a track that sloped up and around the cliff. Link smiled excitedly as he rode the Spinner up! It dropped him onto a ledge where a Shadow Beast was eating the flesh of fish. Link repeated the process and saved the Twili, a woman with yellow hair. "Thank you, child. I told my daughter I would be right back, but now I'm probably late for dinner. …Is there a safe way to get down?"
"In you go." Link slapped her with the Minish Cap and bottled her. Link was able to exit the beach and return to the palm tree garden. Forming an idea, Link used his Spinner to bounce against and between the trees, shaking them all in succession as their leaves slowly turned gold and rose skyward. Before long, they were dancing on their own, happily. The south door opened, leading to a room with three Shadow Bari. There were no Bomb Flowers to help this time, but Link could hop on his Spinner and root himself in place. He lured each Bari over one at a time, and when they came down to suck him, he jumped off as their suckers caught the Spinner. They would spin rapidly and land upside-down, leaving Link to dice them. Defeating them all would make a large chest spawn, which Link could predict what was inside.
You got the Compass! With both this and the map at your disposal, you can now plot your robbery of this humble mansion! …Of course, no one seems to mind Link breaking into their homes and taking their money. Do they just blindly acknowledge him as the hero who deserves everything? Hyrule and Termina are weird worlds.
The Compass seemed to mark the other lost Twili. If he had exited the beach without rescuing the mother, this would've helped him notice her. Link returned to the dining room and freed the mother. "Mommy!" The daughter happily embraced her in a hug.
"I'm sorry for worrying you, darling. I was looking for your brother, but I didn't see him."
"I thought Brother was in the kitchen?"
"Ah, yes, of course." The butler remembered. "Perhaps my divine power over doors are needed once again." With that, the middle-east door opened.
"Hey, can you just come with me around the mansion and open all the doors for me?" Link asked.
"Alas, if I use my powers outside this room, the world may fall into chaos."
"Parlor tricks only get you so far, huh?"
However, Link first decided to backtrack: he entered the west door in the entrance hall, where the divided tracks hung over a river. The Spinner linked to the first track and would move slowly, giving Link time to focus and jump to the right track when it lined up. He would have to jump to another left track past the previous and before a wall blocked him. Two barriers shifted sideways between Link and another right track, but he managed to jump between and latch to it. The track brought him to a platform with a key.
Link exited to the first courtyard, remembering the track that snaked around the west corner of the mansion. As it carried him, Link would have to hit switches to change the track's direction, lest he be dropped into the abyss. He had to shift the track up, then hit a switch to go down, but he bounced against a wall that caused him to return to the start. He repeated the process, going up, up again, down, straight, and down once more before landing on a ledge with a door. Link entered, but the door sealed with bars. Was he already at the 2nd mini-boss?
He was in an average-size room with seven rectangular mirrors around the walls. Link walked by and glanced at them, and they mimicked his reflection as mirrors should. Confused, he decided to play the Ode to Twilight, but nothing happened. "Hmmm…" Link walked around a bit more… he briefly noticed that one of his reflections was black. He was far from that mirror, but he stared at it curiously. The black reflection still seemed to mimic him. Its eyes were red on its shadowy body. Link decided to approach the mirror—"HMPH!" the reflection rolled out, startling Link backwards as they both drew a sword. (Play "Mini-boss" from Ocarina of Time!)
Sub-boss: Dark Link
Link kept his guard raised, but the shadow still mirrored him. Even Ayri's analysis was simple: "Dark Link. Conquer yourself." With no other options, Link slashed, the shadow matching his swings, the blades ringing together. "Ow!" Link suffered a cut, so he flipped back. Link became a Yiga, but his clone merely jumped into the mirror as if it refused to fight anything but its reflection. Link stuck to his normal form, exchanging blades and both raising their shields accordingly. Link landed a stab, so the shadow flipped into the mirror and jumped out of another one, Link dodging his slash.
Link stepped backward, but the shadow now had a bow to shoot him. He would resume using a sword when Link got close again. For now, Link stayed back and tried shooting arrows as well. Dark Link would dodge sideways, but Link repositioned himself to lure him against a corner. With little room to dodge, an arrow struck the shadow. Two more arrows landed before he leapt back into a mirror and tried to slice Link from behind. The hero dodged, and they began another sword fight. Dark Link would toss a boomerang in the midst of his attacks, dizzying the human and leaving him open to stabs.
Link used his own boomerang, with Dark back-flipping or rolling to dodge it. Link dodged the dark boomerang and was able to land a stab during one of Dark's rolls. After retreating to a mirror, Dark Link came out riding a Spinner. Link mounted his own, both Spinners bouncing around the room like a hockey table. Whenever they bumped each other, the Links would land a strike, and it took a few attempts until Link was able to cut his shadow. Dark leapt into a mirror, and Link dodged his sneak attack, but then Dark leapt in again.
Dark Link would leap out of random mirrors and either slash his sword or shoot an arrow. Link would have to react quickly to shoot or slash him. He landed two arrow shots on him from afar, but when Dark Link leapt out behind him, Link landed the final stab. "AAAAAUUUUURRR!" Dark Link screamed with horrific pain as his form was sucked into the farthest mirror, which cracked in the process. Dark Link seemed to disappear after the fact. (Resume "Midna's Lament.")
Link rolled against the mirror, smashing it down completely. A blue and yellow chest was behind it, and Link was glad to find it early.
You got the Boss Key! Have you noticed that the Boss Chests never magically spawn like other chests? That really emphasizes their importance. Heck, maybe sometimes, those spawning chests get lost in subspace due to a glitch. The whole thing is rather scary when you think about it.
Link returned to the dining room and headed into the east door. It immediately brought him to the kitchen, where Poes were throwing raw meat at each other. When they noticed Link, they threw the meat at him, causing him to stink (his stamina would now drop faster). Link saw a light poke in from the wall, so he used the Lens of Truth to shine it onto the Poes and solidify them. He destroyed the ghosts, but nothing seemed to happen. His map indicated that a Twili was inside the refrigerator, which Link realized was locked. The key he had collected earlier could open it. There was a Shadow Beast frozen inside the fridge. Link shot a Fire Arrow to free him, then worked to battle and change the beast back into a pudgy boy with green hair. "That's the last time I hide in a fridge. Thanks, dude."
"You're welcome." Link replied. …He still had the Lens of Truth handy and looked through it subconsciously. "…?" For some reason, the boy wasn't visible through the lens. …Regardless, Link returned to the dining room with him.
"Oh yeah, Mom, Dad wanted me to tell you he was gonna play pool for a bit before dinner."
"The master sure enjoys his billiards." the butler said. "I shall lend the use of my power once more." And with that, the northeast door opened. It led to a hall that snaked northward before leading to a large room with a chasm. Link would have to ride his Spinner along a track and shoot the many Eye Switches around the walls. The track snaked down-left, then curved a right, Link jumped to a parallel rail and shot more switches, then jumped back to a left rail, which would go up a winding track before setting him on a platform. Link had shot all the switches and opened the door at the end.
Link entered the billiards room. The pool table sat with a glass dome over it, and the balls were arranged as they should be. There were small cannons around it and under the holes. Link could become a Minish and climb a tiny ladder leading onto the table, under the dome. He could fly around the table on his Spinner, and he decided to bump the white ball into the other balls to spread them apart. He heard a screeching sound and looked outside, terrified as a Shadow Beast dropped from a ceiling vent. Link quickly exited the table and resized to fight the beast, but it had retreated to its vent.
Link shrank to reenter the table, and the beast came out. He was apparently fascinated with watching the balls roll around the table. He was up against a left hole, so Link bumped a ball into that hole via his Spinner. The ball would shoot out of that cannon and hit the beast. He growled and crawled around to the top-right corner, but Link knocked a ball in that hole to shoot him again. The beast was changing position more quickly, but Link managed to hit him one last time before he was knocked dizzy. Link quickly exited the table and played the Song of Healing, killing the mask afterward. "Golly gee, thanks, pal!" the father spoke with an upbeat tone. "As soon as I heard this curse spreading around, I knew I had to protect my table. …What?! How did my balls scatter around like that?!"
"Like this." Link slapped the Minish Cap on him. He carried him across the Spinner track and returned him to the dinner room.
"Getting turned into a monster was an experience and a half, I tell you what!" Dad expressed. "I sure wish my brother coulda seen it. He's probably still watching M.V., that silly frog!"
"Let us hope he joins us to hear the tale!" the butler said, willing the northwest door to open. Link entered to another barred path that let him view the terrace. It snaked north to an outside area, where Link again had to ride tracks on his Spinner, but it seemed the different tracks were far apart. The first one would drop him, but he used his Rito form to fly the distance to the next track, clutching the Spinner in his talons as he could link it with that track (albeit the Spinner weighed his flight). The track snaked left and would drop off, but Link could go Sheikah and leap to a target across from him. He leapt to another target, then dropped onto a platform to begin the next track. The track would circle around a circle of switches, so Link reverted to normal, charged his sword, and performed a spin attack as he looped around, hitting all the switches in one spin.
The track curved up as its path changed to bring Link to a small house away from the mansion. The field beyond this area (blocked by a fence) seemed to have some sort of roller coaster track. How interesting, Link thought.
Link entered the house, where a Shadow Beast gazed transfixed at a magic mirror, for he was watching Mirovision. Link could neither play the song nor attack him, not so long as he was engaged to his mirror. Link could Ninja Leap to an upper walkway just under the roof, and it led around to a Sol rested on a black hand. Link picked the Sol up and tried to toss it down, but the hand was quick to snatch it back and returned. Link saw the nail in the roof behind the hand, so he used the boomerang to link two of its fingers to the nail. When it tried to snatch the Sol back, the hand became stuck to the nail.
Link carried the Sol down, and it was able to attract the Shadow Beast's attention. Link bonked the Sol against his head to dizzy him, then he could Heal the beast and rescue the red-haired uncle. "Dang, watching M.V. all day really is unhealthy. I need to get some sunlight." Link put him in a bottle without warning and made his way back to the dining room before releasing him.
"Hiya, Bro! Late to the party as usual~" Dad said.
"Well, at least the rest of you are okay." Uncle replied.
"Nuh-uh!" the daughter shouted. "Kitty still isn't here, yet!"
"Oh dear, how could we forget Kitty?" the butler asked. "My powers are needed one last time." The southeast door opened next. Link entered and followed some stairs down to the basement, cutting down Shadow Keese on the way. The following door led him to a very wide room: one corner had a hanging Sol, there was a Sol in the west wall, and Sun Switches in the east and northeast sides.
"Master, I'd suggest you look a little more closely before advancing." Ayri suggested. Link looked through the Lens of Truth—to his horror, there were twin statues of Reapers in the center of the room, rotating with swords extended along the ground. Link would have to ride his Spinner around the room and jump whenever the blades came. He grabbed one of the Sols and carried it to a Sun Switch, tossing it onto the ledge where the switch was as the sun lit up. Link repeated the process for the other Sol, and this caused the Reapers to stop completely.
A south door opened, leading Link into a small room with a small house. Link assumed the cat was in there, and he noticed its water bowl was empty. Link exited the room and returned to the courtyard to scoop some water in his bottle, then came back to fill the bowl. A Shadow Beast crept out of the little house and drank the water. Link played the Song of Healing to unmask the creature and change it back into a black and white cat with glowing eyes.
The cat followed Link back to the dining room. Already, the family members were sitting at their spots, with a high-chair for the cat to sit. "Well, it seems we are all finally together." the butler said, seated at the northern-most spot. "Let us all say grace in honor of our creator, the Fall Maiden Evea." The family closed their eyes and folded hands in prayer.
"Master, there is something strange about them…"
"Strange? …" Link used the Lens of Truth. …The Twili were not present through its lens. It was just like when he viewed the son before. "Wait a second… are you all… not real?!"
"Ahh, what is 'reality,' anyway?" the dad asked casually. "Even if we aren't 'real,' we still know how to FEEL, right?"
"Ewww, no jokes, Dad!" the son cringed.
"Lady Evea created us to rid the loneliness." The butler replied. "It's not hard to talk to imaginary figures, after all. Still… it's only fair that she joins us as well. Young man… would you do us the kind honor of rescuing her? Now, I'll show you the greatest extent of my power…" And thus, the northern door opened.
"Sigh…that was truly powerful." Link smiled. He entered the north door, leading to a wide, outdoor walkway with tall fences on either side (they both gave view to the respective rail segments). It seemed Link would have to bounce the Spinner between and against eight palm trees (four on each side), but Shadow Topmen were spinning around the area. Link jumped his Spinner against the tops to flip them upside-down, after which he could stab their undersides. Once the machines were dealt with, Link bounced the Spinner around all the palm trees, making them dance in succession until their leaves were gold and standing.
Doing so caused pillars with Sheikah Spots to rise from a chasm between the end of the path and the Boss Door. Link leapt between those spots and landed on the floor before said door. He unlocked the large lock, excited for his next battle! (End song.)
Link entered a field that had the roller coaster he noticed before. There appeared to be a large, metal train parked on the track. It had two normal cars and its lead car resembled a chameleon's head (specifically, it looked like Zant's helmet). There were Sheikah Spots around the sides of the tracks, so Link readied his Yiga form. The train was attached to cords connected to a machine with a round slot. Link could insert the Spinner into that slot, spinning it as energy transferred into the train. It began rumbling to life, the center of its eyes glowing.
Link looked upon the train with terror, sensing that it was fully restored. The bottom-front hatch of the train opened, exposing a giant mouth with venomous teeth. "NYAAAAARRR-WAR-WAR-WARH!" Its wheels spun vehemently and sped along the tracks. (Play "Boss Battle" from Majora's Mask!)
Boss fight: Twilit Masked Train, CANT
Bombs dropped from the sides of Cant's cars, raining down on Link. The hero could get onto the tracks where Cant was parked and link his Spinner with them, zooming up the tracks as fast as a train. However, Cant was moving faster, and it would catch up to Link to munch him in its teeth. Powder kegs were launched at Link, but he could destroy them with Fire Arrows. The train looped around the whole track, viciously munching its teeth as it readied to eat Link. However, the hero was able to shoot Fire Arrows up its throat, causing Cant to cough and choke. As a result, the train slowed down.
Link leapt the Sheikah Spots to get around the track faster, afterwards latching the Spinner back on as he approached the train from behind. He leapt to a target on the train's rear and climbed onto the roof of the first car. He inserted the Spinner into a slot and spun until the back car came apart. "NyaarrrrrRRRRHHH!" Cant fumed in anger and sealed its mouth hatch, while the eye hatches opened to reveal their plump, swollen forms. Link got back on the tracks and zoomed up again, shooting down the incoming kegs.
Cant also dropped ice boulders on the track, requiring Link to look ahead and shoot Fire Arrows to melt them. When Cant was nearly directly behind Link, he shot the eyes with Shadow Arrows, blinding the train. Cant slowed down as it tried to blink the shadow off, so Link quickly made his way behind it. He had to unfreeze a frozen Sheikah Spot before leaping to it, but once atop the train, Shadow Baba tried to knock him off. He beheaded the plants before inserting the Spinner into another slot. Within seconds, the second car was dismantled.
With only the head remaining, Link could see an opening in the back of it: a frantic Shadow Beast in a jester hat looked back at him. "NYAR-NAR-NAR! Noot, NOOOOT!" It pulled a lever and warped Cant across the track. The train conjured smaller, armored trains from its back and sent them in the opposite direction. They were designed to ram Link head-on, but Link could jump the Spinner against one and bounce it back, albeit he would change direction as well. Link leapt the Sheikah Spots to avoid crashing into Cant, but the train he had knocked back crashed into another Armored Train. Link leapt the targets to catch up to Cant, and when a train was sent at him, he rammed and bounced it into Cant's cockpit, damaging the engineer.
Link readjusted himself and resumed pursuit. Cant kept moving and dropping trains, but Link recycled his strategy, trying to get close and hit a train into its back. However, his attempt to do so resulted in Cant quickly disappearing and reappearing on the opposite side, releasing another train to intercept its pursuer. Link noticed that the train was briefly stopped as it was reappearing. He repeated the maneuvers and prompted the train to warp again. Then, he leapt to the Sheikah Spot under where Cant appeared, and before it could take off, the ninja quickly pounced the engineer. (End song.)
"NYAARRRRRH! Noot noot noot noot!" The Shadow Beast squirmed in Link's choking grasp, accidentally stomping the gas. "NYAAAAAAHHHH!" The train flew with such speed that Link fell off, but as it was turning a corner, Cant tilted rightward on one wheel, but that wheel snapped off the track. "NAAAAARRR!" It was falling directly toward the Maiden's altar, cockpit first. The engineer squirmed more frantically than ever. "NAAAH HAH HAAAAAH!"
The altar pierced into the cockpit perfectly. The train's mouth shot open and spat out a Heart Container, along with a purple spirit resembling Araea's Mask. After collecting the heart, Link played the Song of Healing on the Shadow Keys. Cant's head shrank into a mask.
You've seized Cant's Remains! You've just freed the innocent spirit who was imprisoned within the evil Cant!
An orange light erupted from the altar as autumn leaves swirled around it like a whirlwind. The light and leaves met into a thin center before bursting, scattering everywhere.
The Fall Maiden was a Twili with a curtain of orange hair, hiding nervously behind said hair. Parts of the hair softly blew off in the form of autumn leaves. "Oh…hello. Thank you for saving me. My name is Evea. I'm the Fall Maiden."
Link found her shy demeanor kind of adorable. "Evea… you were friends with Araea, weren't you? That's what Flaru told us."
"Yes… we used to be. We had a lot in common, given that both of our tribes were cursed. Ages ago, the Twili were entrusted with guarding Majora's Mask, making sure its evil was never released into the world. But the Shadow Queen abused the mask's power and the world was nearly destroyed. And worse, Majora cursed the Twili by banning them from the outside world, ensuring that pure light or pure dark would sicken them. Araea's people, the Frosolites were under a similar curse, though she believed it was a part of their biology. That's why she was always so upset… but even though I understood her… she hurt me. The same way she hurt all of us. I…I don't understand… Why did she hate me?…"
"Fall Maiden Evea, there is a message for you." Ayri spoke suddenly, Link facing her in surprise.
"A… message?"
"At first, this file was inaccessible, but now that you are present, I am able to reveal the message that was intended for you. The message goes as follows: 'Evea… by the time you listen to this message, I'll already be gone. I've done something terrible to you and the others. But I want you to know you're my best friend, the only one I could share all my secrets to. You made me feel warm. And it's because I trust you that I'm going to tell you… inside this slate . . . . my…' The message ends there." Ayri said, making some sort of glitching sound on those last words.
"WHAT?!" Link yelled. "Don't just end it like that! What the heck?!"
"I…I understand…" Evea's eyes seemed to light up, twilit tears dripping from them. "Araea… I understand! You really didn't hate me! You had a reason! You had a reason for betraying us! You were trying to tell me the truth! I'm sure of it!"
"W-W-Wait a second! If that message was from Araea, then, Ayri… did you use to belong to the Winter Maiden?!"
"My memory only extends to the day I met you, Master. Although I am programmed with knowledge and analyzation, I only share the experience I have with you."
"Then, Evea, maybe you would know?"
"No, Araea didn't have one… but, I think I know someone who might. …I promised not to tell anyone about her secrets, but… The truth is, Araea was involved with a Sheikah man. In fact, she even had a child with that man. She thought that a Frosolite/human hybrid would be able to adapt better with warm weather."
"A child? …Then that would have to be the masked girl! Avis!"
"Yes… I'm positive that's Araea's daughter. Frosolites take a very long time to age with their frostbitten bodies, so she seems just about old enough. …Hero, you must go to the Blizzard Temple. Maybe if you visit Araea's temple, you'll learn the full truth. I'll lend you my power to help you reach the Snowcap Wastes." Evea molded a white light in her hands and willed it to fly into the Sheikah Slate. Ayri drew the bow, a cyclone around its tip as she launched it with a gust of wind.
You got the Wind Arrow! With the power of wind in this bow, you can spin propellers and dizzy enemies!
"Somewhere to the northwest, there's an island called Windmill Cove. If you bring your boat to that island and use the Wind Arrow… you will be able to ascend to the White Sea in the sky. From there, you can make your way north to the Snowcap Wastes. There are also a great many islands on the White Sea. I'm going to rid the Twili of the curse that plagues them; however, I fear my power will not reach the distant parts of the Twilight Realm. With my blessing, the Ode to Twilight will be able to open other mirrors in the world, allowing you to enter other islands of this realm. If it's not too much trouble, please try to aid my people on your journey."
"So, I'll have both a Sky Sea and more twilight islands to explore? Man, this adventure is just heating up." Link sported a smirk.
Evea brimmed with orange light and released it into the sky. The light spread across the Twilight Isles: all the Shadow Beasts morphed into their true forms, the masks disappearing. Their friends and relatives hugged them with joy, praising the spirits for this miracle. "A light of hope has returned to our world… and yet, it is not enough. To this day, I hope a time comes that we Twili can walk under the sun with the Light Dwellers. I wish the same for the Frosolites as well. Until then, Hero… defeat the darkness that plagues that world, so it may be ready to welcome us."
"Heheh, you're putting a lot of pressure on me." Link blushed. "But you can count on me. In fact, a couple Twili have already made it to the Light World. One of them has already made some friends."
"That's refreshing to hear. Princess Midna… would be proud of them."
Link began to leave the Evening Temple, but as he was crossing the courtyard—"Ow!" Kigo's spirit appeared and bonked his head.
"Alright, buddy, you did a decent job with my skills, but don't be spouting that friendship garbage about me. I didn't wanna be friends, and frankly, I hate your easygoing demeanor and your naïve attitude."
"Okay, sheesh, I'm sorry. …But I'm not as easygoing as you think. Even now, I'm worried because… there may not be a way to restore you, you know? You're basically dead…"
"Meh, I'll reincarnate eventually. My family's real high on that stuff. Just be careful with my mask, okay?"
"You sure you're okay with me fighting your fellow clansmen?"
"That's basically how I was raised. Thrash them all you want."
"If you say so. …Sigh, there's only one temple left, huh? It's probably not gonna be that easy…" And so, Link made the journey back to town.
Clockwork Island
A purple-dressed man unlocked the door to a building, his grin beaming in the night. He opened the door and pulled his large pack of merchandise inside.