[EDITING] The Legend of Zelda: Goddess of Secrecy

Dungeon Chapter 58 - The Valley of Souls

...in its many clashing shades, blues versus reds as the native plant life fought to survive under the weight of the grim rot root. Much of the cavern's glow had been eroded or smothered, but there were still holdouts of it scattered across the cavern floor, lighting the way forward.

Ahead, a massive acropolis was carved into the far wall of the cavern. A dead fog clung to it; all color drained from its exterior. The vines of the rot root curled around pillars and statues, obfuscating many details to a depiction of the Goddesses.

Ahead, Princess was too focused on her entourage to pay much mind behind her. Link and Endeavor trailed behind, and he asked quietly, "What is this place?"

"The Valley of Souls, the deeper half of Clever Grove," Endeavor answered, her tone saddened. "This place used to be gorgeous, covered in bioluminescent flora. It was so bright it was like starlight. It hurts to see it gone."

"You've been here before?" Link asked.

"Indeed, more so than the other Temples. This was the first Temple I saw, I came here as a child with my mother," Endeavor answered, the hint of a quiver in her voice. She coughed and Link didn't press her. "Well, let us hope that we will see some resolution once we have cleared this Temple."

Link nodded in agreement, turning back to face the rest of party. He nearly jumped out of his skin as he found himself face to face with Hack.

"What 'chu doin' out here, mister?" Hack asked, a little too sweetly for Link's liking.

"Trying to help," Link answered, catching his breath.

"I thought you was tryin' to get to Cleff."

"I can do both," Link muttered.

"You're awfully jumpy for goin' into a mess like this," Hack said, falling into step beside Link as they kept walking.

"I'm a pretty good fighter," Link offered, though he only half believed it at the moment. He hadn't even heard Hack get close. His reflexes had never been this bad.

Endeavor stepped in at this point. "I can concur, he is an incredibly talented fighter."

Hack seemed skeptical about this, squinting her eyes to watch Link closer. After it went on for a little too long, she shouted back up, "Says he's a fighter, that's how!"

Chop and Slash expressed distinctly opposite reactions as Hack hurried to keep up with them. Chop begrudgingly handed over a handful of rupees. Chop grumbled back at Link, "Are you really?"

Link hesitated for a moment, seeming to confirm Chop's suspicions. Chop snorted a laugh, "Sure, you are, and I'm the Hero down from the surface."

There was a loud crack, wood on bone, and Link tracked the closed fan returning to Princess's hand. She was glowering at Chop, and as he recovered from the hit, she corrected him, "You will not talk about the Hero like that."

"Ow-ow-ow, I ain't mean anything by it, Princess," Chop grumbled.

"And that's precisely the problem. It's disrespectful. The Hero is brave and courageous," Princess fell off from her lecture for a moment, clutching the fan close as she spun around for a moment. In a sing-song tone, she went on, "Oh, he's tall and dashing and the perfect image of a knight."

Link was starting to appreciate the disguise.

"And one day he'll come down to Underborough to the Temple and whisk me away to get married."