(2505 words) 

(y/n)'s POV 

I was on the deck looking around at the sea while the rest were sleeping. Sighing as i Mercay Island, we got ready to dock. Throwing the anchor as  we got off the ship and onto the harbor I sighed again. Looking at the sun I had guessed that it was no later than 10 in the morning. Looking to Link I smiled gently. He turned to me and smiled wide. Linebeck had gone back to the ship to take care of a few things. 

We got to the Temple before we heard someone behind us. "Hey! Wait! Wait!" turning around we saw, Linebeck? "If you push yourself that hard from the beginning, you won't last! I understand wanting to hurry but don't waste your energy." He stepped closer to us and put his hands on his hips like a worried mother. Damn, Linebeck.

"Don't forget that this temple sucks the life out of you. I know we have to search for clues to find the spirits, but we need some kind if strategy. Just don't end up like this!" he said and pointed at the nearby skeleton. Wait. Was he, worried? About us? I looked at him for a moment. His green eyes turned to me and met with my (e/c) ones. The look lingered for a moment before he blinked and looked away. 

"Hey, you know..... uh..... I mean, if you want to do it alone, who am I to stop you?" 

"What? You're trying to put all that work on us again, aren't you? If you know it's dangerous, shouldn't you be going with us?" 

"Well, yeah, kid. The temple is a little dangerous, it's not a place for..... er.... kids. If you go in, well you might not make it very far." 

"That's not exactly true. I'm impressed you managed to free the Spirit of Power" I rose a brow and crossed my arms. You know they're only walking around with  practically a god damn talking Zelda Dungeon Guide. "You are strong. Even if you follow the Ghost Ship, you will be fine. Get up on that altar!" 

Turning around we saw the Phantom Hourglass at the top of the balcony. Looking at link and tilting my head he made a run for the hourglass. Getting in front of it, the hourglass started to float in front of him. Leaning forward he looked at it before the Sand of Time started to fill it. 

"Now, Link! Take the hourglass!" He took it from the altar. Linebeck and Oshus started to make their way up the stairs. Linebeck stopped when he didn't hear me following. Turning to look at me he  flashed me a smile before waving his hand  for me to follow. Sighing gently I walked over to him. His hand brushed against my lower back. Glancing at him as  we walked up the stairs, he didn't look at me. 

I bit the inside of my lip as I tried my best to ignore what I thought had happened. I could have  sworn there was a small spark, a tingle, of sorts in my skin as he touched me. Clearing my throat as we got to Link we looked at him. Oshus started talking. 

"You now hold the legendary, Phantom Hourglass. As long as you carry it, the temple cannot drain the life from you." 

"Wooo-hoooo! As long as we have this we can search for clues for the spirit!" 

"Ahem, however. You are only safe as sand remains in the top of the Phantom Hourglass. When all the sand is at the bottom, your life too, will be drained." 

Linebeck butted in. "It's an hourglass! Can't you just flip it over again?" 

"No. Once the Sand of Hours is drained, it's power is lost. It needs the light of the sun to restore its mystical power." 

"Ah, I get it! We need to go outside  the temple again!" 

Oshus gave a small nod and we went through the door and to the main temple floor. Before we could get through the small hallway, Leaf showed up. "That is the Door of Strength. Use my strength to open the door!" Going over and opening the door we went down the stairs to the Basement Floor 1. 

Stepping out of the safe zone at the stairs, two phantoms had shown up. They were to blue ones, this means that they were regular. They couldn't teleport and they weren't very fast. Making these few floors the easiest in the temple. Ciela showed up. 

"Hey, its an enemy! You know what to do." 

"Wait, Link! The evil that cursed this temple, made those Phantoms. Phantoms are very dangerous. Their armor is nearly impenetrable and their strike is very hard." 

"Does that mean, you can't defeat them? There has to be a way." 

"Well, all you can do is sneak by the phantoms so they won't see you. The map shows their movements. If they see you, run straight for a safe zone." 

It was my turn to say something. "Since they have cursed power in them, don't let them hit you. If one does that, instead of taking  hearts. It'll take time from the hourglass. That way the temple will be able to suck the life out of you itself." 

He nodded gently as we got moving. Taking the boomerang I told Link to go to the Northeast corner of the room and hit an orb. I'll be at the southern end of the map in a safe zone. Running to the safe zone I waited to see the torch light. Once it did I used the boomerang to light the torch that mirrored the lit one. This let the fire go out on a nearby hallway. Letting us through that area. 

I turned around to see Link running into the safe zone behind me. Moving his way in front of me, I let him stand there. I pointed a little. "That's where we're going, we need to be quick though." he looked at me and gave me a nod and his brave face. As we left the safe zone I practically ran into a Phantom. Link turned to help but I yelled at him. 

"Run towards the north end of the room! To the right will be a switch, stand on it and then get the key, I'll distract this one!" 

Without a word, as  usual, he took off for the switch. I turned around and looped the Phantom around a couple corners before I ran to the safe zone at the end of the hall that Link ran down. Standing in it, I waited until I saw Link get close, I watched as the phantom I had distracted came around the corner. Reaching for Link I pulled him into the safe zone. While I did I fell back to the floor and he landed on my lap. I looked at him and he smiled gently. 

Reaching into his pocket he held up the key. Smiling I ruffled his hair. "Good! You got it, now we have to get to the door to unlock it." I said as I watched the Phantom walked by us. We ran for the door and unlocked it, going down the stairs to the Basement Floor 2. 

Getting to the bottom of the stairs. I looked around the corner. "All right, Link. Same as before, I'll distract him, you pull the lever" I said. Glancing at him he nodded. Smiling gently and I looked at him and nodded. Running out of the safe zone I got the Phantoms attention. Leading him away from the lever and around the corner, Link pulled it. 

This let the fire go out and I grabbed a small rock. "Hit the switch to your left!" I ran by the other one and threw the rock at it and that let a key drop. I met with Link back at the safe zone. He looked at me and smiled wide as I leaned on the wall. Fuck, am I out of shape. Looking at Link we ran all the way back to the switch i hit and then over the little area that was previously, a fire wall. 

Running around the two corners we sat in the safe zone in the Southwestern corner. Standing there we let the Phantom walk by. Going to the switch and getting  the key, we ran over the blue squares in the floor and hitting the switch to open the door to the next floor. Getting to the third basement floor I sighed gently. Before we could step out of the safe zone, Leaf showed up. 

"The  clue for the Ghost Ship, rests on this floor. Just a little more!" 

Running to the Southeastern corner we opened the chest there to find the first Force Gem. Carrying it to the biggest safe zone on the map, Link threw it into one of the triangles there, then it sank into the floor. One down, two to go. 

Running to the left side of the room I pulled a lever that put out some fire blocking a bit of stairs. Link ran up the stairs and stepped on a switch to throw a Phantom down a trapdoor. Making him drop the key he held. Once he grabbed it he threw it to me and I opened the locked door for the next Force Gem. Carrying it back to the next pedestal, I got ready to get the last one. Getting to the next one in the Northwestern corner, Link dropped the second Phantom down the trapdoor. Putting the last two Force Gems into the slots dropped the door and let us go into the next room. 

This gave us the Northwestern Sea chart. Going back to the entrance of the temple, i stretched and sighed a little. I'm only 19 but I feel really old. Going back to the harbor we got back to Linebeck. 

"Hey, you actually made it back! Find the sea chart?" 

Ciela started to yell at him. "Linebeck, you're lucky to have us around, doing all the work!" 

"Hey let me see that!" he said and took it from Link. Holding it in his hands, his eyes scanned it. "It's the chart we need to sail into the sea to the north. But we still don't know the location of the Ghost Ship. Well, blow me down to the ground. This Sea Chart is so dust I can't read it! Make yourself useful and clean it up, will you?" 

Taking it from Linebeck I looked at him. He watched me for a moment before I blew on the old paper. The dust came off of everything and showed us the islands. Looking up at Linebeck after the Symbol for the Goddess of Wisdom was shown. 

"Ahhh-chooo! Hey, look! I mean, I knew it all along. I knew it was hidden there. I've always had a sixth sense of these things!" 

"We aren't falling for it Linebeck, you knew that wasn't there!" 

Shaking my head and rubbing my temples I looked at the two. "Whether or not he knew it was there, doesn't matter. We have better things to do than for you two to bicker every time we have new clues. We're wasting precious time when we should be trying to find the Ghost Ship, and saving Tetra, mind you!" 

Sighing deeply I rubbed my eyes. "Anyway, Linebeck. Does your marvelous ship happen to have a cannon?" I asked as he looked at me, crossing his arms. 

"It doesn't, why should it?" 

"We're going after the Ghost Ship, not having a cannon would be a suicide mission. Before we can get the Spirit of Wisdom, we need to go to Cannon Island, then go from there." Looking at Link he smiled a little. Linebeck shrugged and went onto the ship, before Link could follow I grabbed his shoulder gently. Kneeling down I looked at him. 

"I never got to thank you for what you did in the Temple of Fire, against Blaaz. If you hadn't jumped in between me and that fireball when you did, I'd had been toast. Quite literally." he smiled at me and hugged me tightly as I hugged him back. Standing up after he let go we got onto the ship. Standing next to Linebeck i looked at Link. Before  i could say anything, I lost my balance and fell forward. 

Linebeck's POV 

I watched as (y/n) started to fall. Lunging for her, I barely caught her in time. Holding her close to me, I looked down at her. Link turned to see what was going on. Ciela started to panic. "What happened?! Linebeck, what did you do!" 

"I didn't do anything! I think she's just really tired." I said as I picked her up bridal style. "Link you know how to man the ship, you get things ready for us to shove off" 

"What are you going to do?" Ciela asked. 

"I'm putting her into my bed, she needs to rest." I said as I carried her below deck. Feeling her move in my arms I looked at her. As I did I saw her eyes open and look up at me, my heart panging a little. The way she looked so vulnerable in my arms, made me feel different? i couldn't place it, but I never felt this way before. It was strange, even for me. Laying her on the bed I went to pull away before she grabbed my jacket sleeve and nearly pulled me over. 

"Tell Link, to set a course for Cannon Island. We'll find someone there to give us a Cannon for the ship. We need it to get to the Northwestern Sea." she said. I nodded gently as i held her hand, her skin was soft to the touch. She nodded a little as she closed her eyes for a moment. I reached down to her shoes and pulled them off. Grabbing the blanket that was at the end of the bed, I covered her up. Before I could pull away, she grabbed my again, this time my hand. 

Sitting on the edge of the bed I looked at her. "Stay with me" she mumbled. If i wasn't mistaken she looked like a small child that had screamed for its mother after a terrible dream. Feeling that same pang in my chest I looked at her. "Since Link is manning the ship, I'll sit over in that chair and keep an eye on you." 

I knew it wasn't what she wanted to hear, but it was better than telling her no. She let me go slowly and rolled over to fall asleep. Getting off the bed, I went to the desk chair and sat down. Looking at her as she slept i thought to myself. Knowing that she only almost fell, was because she needed to sleep, I was certain of that. But then why did I feel so worried?