You Can Heal Wounds, But Can You Heal Fear? [Eevachu + Blonde Panther]

Bell nodded at Lyra's words. She wasn't one with a particular affinity for magic, and never studied the many complexities it held- though she possessed a spell of her own, she preferred to hone her swordsmanship skills over anything else. In particular, magic to mend bones and sew flesh seemed especially extraordinary and difficult, as it was not something she encountered often even in the bustling magical land that was Castle Town, so the idea of conserving one's magic was foreign to the girl. As Lyra mentioned the concept, however, it quickly began to develop in Bell's mind. "Ah, my apologies Lyra." She was being inconsiderate of Lyra's pool of magic by requesting healing for such a minor injury, and though she did not know of it before, she was more educated now. Bell would have to take caution not to be injured further, so Lyra could get the most out of her magic.

Bell's attention was brought to the noise above the staircase as a low, growling- grumbling?- noise reverberated from further up. It was pretty unsettling to hear- perhaps it was the echo of a foul beast's empty stomach. If that were the case, at least it would mean none of the children had been eaten by whatever lied above. Bell contemplated the thought for a moment, but was interrupted by Hector's suggestion. "Yes, good idea." Bell agreed. It was possibly they would have to eventually go upstairs, but the later they did, the better- if the monster was as vicious and hungry as it seemed, allowing time for Bell's arm to recover would improve their chances of beating it greatly.

With their path decided, Bell approached the door between the two staircases, whispering to Lyra in a hushed tone, "I will open it first, stand behind me." Even with her injured shield arm, neither of them could know what threat or trap might lie behind the door they were about to open. Bell was much more heavily armored than Lyra, and besides that, she would feel responsible if by entering here to rescue children, she got another one injured.

Slowly creaking open the door, the symbol carved into the wooden surface- the symbol of courage symbolizing the goddess Farore, if one was knowledgeable about their history facts- began to lose its luster, the gently pulsing light fading away into a dim husk of what it once was. They were met with a surprisingly illuminated room; a small ledge connecting to a wide, seemingly bottomless pit rest in front of them, stretching across the room at all sides. Resting across from each other on the walls to their sides were two shut doors. Seemingly hovering in mid-air across the pit were several rotating spikes, seemingly moving autonomously and in a specific pattern. Cautiously, Bell stepped into the room, scanning it for any sign of a child.

Unfortunately, there didn't seem to be one. Her eyes caught a glimpse of the two doorways seemingly hovering over nothing, but Bell almost discarded them in her mind- after all, there was no way they could reach them, how could a child possibly go there? Just as Bell was about to call back to Lyra that it seemed to be a dead end, she heard the clacking of metal and turned to see a blazing lantern flying at her head. Quickly, the girl could do little except deflect it with her gauntlet, sparks and flames bursting off of her steel gauntlet and doing little to the thick metal covering her arms, though she could feel the heat singe against her face. What appeared to be hovering in place was nothing else than a Poe; it let out a sinister, horrifying cackle, though it didn't seem to be the only one- it appeared to be a cacophony of laughter, but they were so similar it was difficult the exact number their ranks held. It was chilling and discomforting to hear, but that was something Bell did not have the luxury of worrying about.

The horrendous cackling continued to echo through the room, the lofty lantern of the Poe swaying back and forth menacingly. Pointing her glaive forward at the hovering enigma of a ghost, she readied herself for a lunge, only to be caught completely off guard as her glaive effortlessly pierced the seemingly defenseless, translucent creature, it cackling madly at her failed attempt as it swung its lantern down at the girl who was charging through it. She had to continue running, lest she be smashed to the ground; barreling through the Poe, Bell came out on the other side, its swing going wide along with her eyes- just what were these things, really?

"Just how. . ." Bell questioned, awestruck. No, this was no time to be shocked. The Poe was now in between Bell and Lyra, which was both good and bad- it had been cornered, but Lyra was left defenseless. There must be some way to defeat these enemies, and it was possible Lyra would know. "Any ideas?!" She called out to the Kokiri, eyeing the hovering Poe with caution. In doing so, however, it left her blind to the second Poe that was phasing out from the wall behind her, its lantern crashing down towards her shoulder. Unaware of the impact, the girl was send crashing downward towards the pit, her body teetering on the edge. She was too focused on the battle, Bell was completely unaware her shoulder was resting on thin air above the pit- she quickly brought herself to her feet, ready to fight once more. There were two Poe, then. If she knew of their locations, she could possibly distract them while Lyra thought of a strategy, at least. This seemed to be a reoccurring strategy they were employing, but if it had worked once before, why not do it again?

Lyra had a plan. It was a perfectly sound one, too. Perhaps Bell could attempt to grapple one of the Poe lanterns, and while it was immobilized Lyra could tap it and fill it with her life magic. It was a little reckless, but it could work. It was better than anything Bell had in mind, at least. Unfortunately, plans don’t always go as intended.

“Lyra!” Bell shrieked, her eyes watching as the girl flailed and screamed, trying to stop her inevitable SPLAT. Was there anything Bell could do?! No, this Poe was in her way. She couldn’t bear to watch Lyra plummet to her doom, but what choice did she have except that? As if blessed by the goddesses themselves, however, such a sight never came to be. Lyra was. . . floating? Bell stared at her, mouth agape, the shock of the situation washing over her. So she was still alive! But how? Bell had no idea how Lyra was floating in mid-air- did it even matter?! Lyra was alive!

Bell could barely contain her excitement as a Poe lantern smacked her across the helm, sending her toppling to the ground as she felt whimsical flames dance against steel and threaten to singe her face. Time had not frozen; the Poe were not waiting for Bell’s focus to return to them- it was a rookie mistake and she should have known better. She had to find a way to reach Lyra and to help her, that was her immediate priority. There was no way to get to Lyra while this Poe was bashing her with its lantern, and plus, even if she managed to slip past the Poe she would only be drawing it to Lyra instead of against herself. She had to find a way to deal with it.

Bringing herself to her feet, she eyed the Poe steadily. She did not know what to do except keep up her barrage of assaults and hope one ends up sticking. With a lunge and a swipe, her attacks were still completely ineffective, yet she noticed something peculiar- her swipe would have smacked against the Poe’s lantern, and it withdrew it hastily. Was it protective of its lantern? Yet, it was using it as its source of offense, why would it be cautious about Bell hitting it? She did not understand these creatures, but it was worth a shot. It wouldn’t let her hit the lantern with any ease, however.

A cleave was all she needed- with a quick, downward swipe towards the Poe’s lantern, it quickly withdrew it upward, which was all she needed. Her polearm was already being charged with magical energies as her blade swung. The Poe was already moving in one direction to avoid, and it wouldn’t be able to avoid any further. Carrying the momentum of her swing forward and unleashing it into a wide spin, her Spin Attack tore through the Poe’s lantern, causing it to spark up in flames and immediately wither away.

She had managed to defeat it, but such tactics did not fall on deaf ears- surely the other Poe saw, and she would be unable to employ it against them. Now, she would have to go help Lyra- hopefully the sweet girl was doing well.

Before Bell could even attempt to help Lyra, it struck. Launching out from the pit of darkness below her feet, a massive, disembodied hand easily the size of the Kokiri’s small frame enveloped the girl in its grip. It flew upward, seemingly threatening to flatten her against the wall, but rather than sending her splattering across the ceiling, her body- and its, - phased through the ceiling entirely. “Lyra!” Bell’s voice cried out in worry, though before she could do anything, the girl was gone and the Poe hovered menacingly between the two.

“Get out of my way!” The knight growled, and surprisingly, the ghostly creature seemed to oblige. Its spirit hovered up into the ceiling and away. Unfooled by the seemingly false disappearance of the Poe, Bell stood firm, her glaive drawn, but nothing happened. No hidden strike came, no matter how long she waited. Had the Poe fled, having claimed a target?

“Lyra! Lyra, are you there?!” Bell cried in worried tones, though there was no response. Just what had happened? Had they taken her? But where, then? Surely she was still somewhere in the temple. Maybe with the other kids, she thought. And who was they, even? She knew not, but it must have been whatever evil was pervading this temple. That was right, they had kidnapped Lyla, just like the rest. She would have to find the girl, Bell knew that. So, she had no choice but to move forward.

Now that she had more time to examine the room at her leisure, she saw bold inscriptions etched onto the two doorways. One, on the left, read “Trial of Power’s Courage”, while the other, on the right, had written, “Trial of Wisdom’s Courage”. A trial. . .? Bell had heard that those with courage in their hearts would venture into the temple as a form of trial of courage, but she had believed that to be a mere rumor among the townsfolk, as the gates had been sealed prior to their entering. Was there more truth to that than she knew? Regardless of what they were, Bell would have to choose one. After a moment’s consideration, she decided left would be her best course of action- if it were a trial, she felt more comfortable with some test of strength or physical might than she did with any maze or riddle. Decision made, now she would have to make it to the door.

. . . How? There was a massive gap of empty space between her and the doorway. Yet, Lyra had stood in the air moments before, and Bell knew not how. Was it some special ability the mage had? Cautiously, the woman extended her foot, and to her shock, it met solid ground. Through some manner or means, there was a special platform hovering above the abyss, invisible to the naked eye. And sure enough, as she slowly inched across the blackness, careful not to look down, it extended forward. Occasionally, Bell would reach an edge, and have to slide her way across it to find the continuation, but it proved little trouble so long as she took care not to rush or collide with the spinning traps. She was on guard, should the disembodied hand reappear to attempt to snatch her away, but it never came. She made it to the doorway unaccosted. With that, Bell took a deep breath, readied her glaive, and entered the Trial of Power’s Courage.