Chereads / Lost in Hyrule: A Zelda Odyssey / Chapter 12 - The Power of Reverse Flow

Chapter 12 - The Power of Reverse Flow

With a press of the green ring, the entrance to the Najyahah Temple opened. After a blink of watery glow, Leonard found himself standing in front of a staircase.

This temple started off similarly to the third one. Through the archway, a raft floated towards him. After disappearing into the sewer below the floor, another raft floated up in its place...

After watching for a while, Leonard was confused. Could he simply swim across? He decided to try, diving in and creating a splash. The current was rapid, too strong for his current physical condition. Unable to resist, he was swept into the sewer and drowned.

Upon resurrection, Leonard noticed a protruding section of the floor on his right, seemingly close to the opposite bank. Slapping his thigh, he realized the solution. He used his ultimate hand to summon the raft and place it in front of the floor. He then waited on the bank, planning to use the next raft that floated by. "I'm so clever! Hehe," he thought, feeling triumphant.

Unfortunately, things did not go as planned. Leonard waited and watched as the raft plummeted down the waterfall several times, but it never floated back to him. It seemed that only one raft could exist at a time in this area, and his initial solution was not correct. Disheartened, he thought, "I am still too green. Youth is a sin..."

Collecting his thoughts, Leonard figured if the ultimate hand was not the solution, then it must be the power of reversing time. He used his ultimate hand to let the water wash the raft away—this raft had stayed here too long, and the reverse flow power was limited.

When the next raft floated by, Leonard stood by the shore, timed his move right, and exclaimed: "Reverse time!" He then immediately jumped onto the raft. The raft then reversed along its previous trajectory.

Ha! Leonard hopped onto the floor, pleased with himself for solving the first puzzle! Having figured out the trick, the rest became easier. The second challenge was handled similarly, but the raft dropped from the waterfall and swayed a bit. Leonard passed through on his first attempt and arrived in front of a water wheel. He reversed the trajectory of the water wheel, ascended to the second floor, and took the ten arrows stored there.

Jumping back down, he came in front of a strange device. The gate looked like a clock, with two massive hands. One rotated clockwise, and the other counter-clockwise. After observing for a while, Leonard realized that every time the two hands overlapped, the gate below would open.

By using reverse time, he managed to keep the two hands overlapping. Perhaps Leonard was just incredibly lucky, but he managed to pass through the final gate with surprising ease.

After pressing the green ring on his right arm, the runes swirled around and dispersed. "Visitor of this sealed temple, the one who purifies the ancient evil, you've done well in reaching the deepest part..." The two gods spoke and granted Leonard another blessing light.

Exiting the Najyahah Temple, Leonard was eager to return to the Temple of Time and push open the final door to see what intriguing things lay within.

Conveniently, he found himself on a runway when exiting the cave. Leonard deployed his 'wings' and flew quickly towards the temple. This time, he was so engrossed in the scenery that he forgot to control the flight path of his 'wings.' Unable to land, he had no choice but to abandon his 'wings' and glide alone. During his glide, he saw the divine dragon circling nearby. At its closest, it was only a few tens of meters away. Leonard thought: could it be possible to jump from the 'wings' onto the dragon?

Before he could finish thinking, Leonard took a perfect dive towards the ground, crashing and shattering to pieces.

"Ouch!" Leonard struggled to his feet, his body aching as though it had fallen apart, his hearts still at two and without any red light. Not one to give up, Leonard once again spread his 'wings' and flew towards the temple. As soon as he took off, he regretted not adding a fan to the tail, that would have been faster, wouldn't it? "Ah, I must have hit my head, not even understanding such a simple principle. But it's too late now, any forced adjustments in the air would easily lead to a crash," Leonard thought to himself, swallowing hard. This was a plan to be implemented later.

"I'm here!" With a yell, Leonard, like a superhero, plunged into the water, at the very lake where he had landed the last time, just a step away from the Temple of Time. The golem butler outside the temple had Leonard warm himself by the fire, but Leonard, impatient to enter the temple, pushed open the door without further ado, following the path from last time straight to the statue of the goddess.

This time, offering four lights of blessings to the goddess, Leonard received a heart container. The benefit was that it refilled his health and increased his maximum hearts. In other words, Leonard now had four hearts.

He again arrived in front of the last great door, pressing his hands against it and activating his life force. "Open!" Leonard roared, and the runes on the door began to spin, forming two green dragons on either side. The green dragons flickered before finally forming a cyan ring in the middle. "Boom!" The door slowly opened to reveal the azure sky and a four-legged archway in the distance!

Leonard's right hand suddenly flared with cyan light, and as he followed its path to the right, there again was Larue, his right arm also glowing with cyan light.

This time, Larue seemed more substantial, only his right arm appearing somewhat ethereal. His ancient, unchanging face relaxed a little as he praised, "Well done! You seem to have successfully opened the door. Although your body is plagued by the miasma, and is not in the best condition... the power of the blessings you received in the temple seems to have slightly purified some of the miasma within you."

Leonard remembered that every time the light of blessing entered his body, some red light would evaporate. When he accepted the heart container just now, the red light evaporated even more fiercely. It seemed Larue's words were not without truth.

"Although we haven't spent much time together, I am very happy to have spoken with you," said Larue, turning slowly to look towards the clear sky. A light breeze blew, lifting his neatly tied white hair slightly from the ground.

Larue's side profile was even more determined, a small smile at the corner of his mouth. "Everything is as Zelda said... That girl... I'll leave her to you..." He slowly closed his eyes, dissolving into the sky as a cyan light, scattered by the wind.

It took Leonard a while to respond. What did Zelda say? When had Larue met her? These questions lingered in Leonard's mind, but it was too late to ask. Leonard, wiping the tears at the corner of his eyes, thought about how every time he saw Larue, there was an indescribable loneliness, like smoke that could not be dispersed by the wind.

Standing in front of the door and pondering was not the solution, maybe the answer was ahead. Leonard gathered himself and continued on his way. After using the sky-loft spell twice, he arrived in front of the final altar on the floating path.

After passing through the four-legged arch, a yellow light object was awaiting Leonard on the altar. As he approached it, without even touching the yellow light, the Master Sword on his back suddenly emitted a deep blue glow. It flickered as if resonating with the yellow light.

Quickly, Leonard drew out the corroded Master Sword and placed it in the yellow light. Could it be reforged? Could the miasma be expelled?

The Master Sword slowly rose in the yellow light, disappearing in an instant...

On the other side, Zelda caught the Master Sword floating in midair, carefully examining the dagger-like blade in front of her. Her already large eyes grew even bigger, as if she couldn't believe what was happening. After a while, she raised the Master Sword, gripping it tightly in her hand, overwhelmed with excitement, and two clear tears rolled down her cheeks...