Shadow Temple (For realz now) OoT: Raz and Squishy

Kalik climbed to his feet, and though the screams no longer echoed through the air, they still rebounded in his skull. He felt light-headed, and stumbled like a drunk struggling with the concept of gravity, actually falling on a chest. Wait... had there been a chest there before? Had they simply never noticed it? Or had it been concealed by some strange magic that the monster's death dispelled?

It was no matter, it only mattered that it was in front of him now. Still leaning on it, he carefully opened the top, trying to avoid any trap that might be strung; though thankfully none did. Inside the chest seemed to be a lockbox of a family long forgotten, and was a mess: there were documents, letters, pictures, loose rupees, a few odd trinkets, a golden ring and others.

Skimming through the papers he found most were love letters written long ago to names long lost, another was a marriage certificate and the ring was not a symbol of power or identity but in fact an engagement ring. The pictures were mostly of two lovers, the faces faded, or a family as happy as could be; only one ominously of a coffin stood out as odd. The trinkets too seemed to hold only sentimental value to their once-owners, save a cross made of ivory and ebony that seemed to call to Kalik, and when he held it the screams seemed to fade.

Still, it was best not dwell on such things, he gathered the loose rupees, 29 in all, and took the cross before closing the chest, leaving the rest to be abandoned(?) once more. "The path seems clear now, stay close and I'll guide the way."

Kalik gripped the cross in his hands and suddenly the illusions in the hall of skulls held no power over him. He walked through the temple with renewed courage, thanking Valoo for the gift of the cross and what it let him do; Fight through one of the most terrifying places in the realms without a hint of the terror that plagued him before. Now more than ever he seemed worthy to be Valoo's servant.

He proudly walked through one of the newly uncovered doors, and into a large room with a bird statue and ring of skulls with a door on the opposite wall. The voice from before returned "Make my beak face the skull of truth. The alternative is a descent into the deep darkness." he heard it within his head, but it didn't feel like he heard with his ears. Did the cross only affect visual illusions? or was the voice in his head real after all?

With the cross however, he only saw one skull and thus it was a simple act to turn the statue to face it, with the door sliding open after.