[EDITING] The Legend of Zelda: Goddess of Secrecy

Dungeon Chapter 24 - A Second Blaze

...into the room in front of them. Bruce shouted before Link had reached the bottom of the stairs, "Hey!"

The person turned around to face them. She was a young lady, with long brown hair, probably around Link's age. A bright cyan streak stood out in her hair as she turned around. Other than the bright coloring in her hair, there was nothing strange about her. Well, maybe that she was here. She had a warm, winter coat on, her hands buried into her pockets.

"Hey," she replied. She stopped and pointed at Link. "You're the guy who opened the door for me, aren't you? Didn't get a good look at your face."

"Who are you?" Link asked.

"Echo. Echo S. Ound," she answered, offering her hand out. When Bruce glared at it, she buried it back in her pocket. "And you're the hero character they were talking about in Castle Town, aren't you? Explains some things."

Link paused for a moment. "Yeah, I guess...what are—"

"I mean, I should figure," Echo went on without really bothering to listen. "That's not an ordinary sword, is it?"

"What are you doing here?"

Echo looked up at Yore as the bird hovered over her head. She said, "You have a talking bird. How interesting." She smiled, before answering the question, "I'm researching for a novel. I figured I'd get the cold place out of the way before anything else. Goddesses, I hate the cold." She dug her hands deeper into her pockets. "And I suppose you're here to defeat that thing in the other room I can't get to."

Link paused, thinking through what she'd said and the logistics of the temple so far. "You got passed locked doors."

She shrugged. "Of course I can. If I couldn't get through the first room, then this wouldn't be much of a place to visit."

"Then how'd you get locked in that room back there?" Bruce asked.

Echo's face went red. "I'm not perfect."

"You need to get out of here," Link stated, not sure on how that worked. It seemed awfully convenient. And it didn't matter. "It's not safe."

Crossing her arms, Echo asked, "For who? You don't seem to be having any trouble. Lots of people can protect themself. Maybe I'm one of them"

Link paused, not expecting her retort. Bruce added, "There are monsters in here."

Echo scoffed, "No kidding! I hadn't noticed."

Bruce didn't respond, his jaw slacking. Then he started to tense as his more recent rank started to float back to mind. Echo sighed, bouncing a half step away. "I shouldn't be bitter. I suppose you did get me out of that room, after all. You're looking to get some heat back into this place, aren't ya? I mean, considering that part of this place is warming up, that seems like your plan. Well, you are aware of the buglers, aren't you?"

When Link shook his head, Echo went on, "Didn't think so. Well, you should be. As long as one of the ice monsters are present, the heat isn't going to do you any good. And a bugler can make sure that ice creature remains present. Magic little pains."

"How do you know this?"

"That's part of the trade," Echo answered, closing her eyes as she shrugged. And magic began to pool around her. "Hope it helps."

"Wait!"

Echo waved, before there was a flash of blue fire. A brown fox vanished off into another corridor. Bruce grumbled under his breath. "That didn't answer anything really."