The Phantom Hourglass

III

"Sorry son, I 'aven't seen im' in sev'ral days."

"Thanks anyway," Link sighed, turning away from a sailor walking down the port's docks.

Ciela sat on top of Link's head, rubbing her hands against the cloth of his cap.

"We've asked everyone in town nearly," Link said. "Are you sure he hasn't left for another island?"

"I'm sure," she said, leaning precariously over so he could see her when looking upward. "If Linebeck had left, everyone would be mentioning how he gave some grandiose speech on one of his daring exploits."

"If you say so..."

Link took a breath, looking around the "port." It felt so unlike a place like WIndfall, or even one of the many smaller ports that the crew had stopped at throughout their journeys. Those ports were often densely packed with buildings, had a ramble of buildings up near the docks...

But Mercay Island in comparison was extremely quiet. It was busier than Outset, but it seemed awfully small for Ciela to call it 'one of the largest islands in the sea.'

"Did you say Linebeck..."

Link turned around to see a short balding man.

"The imbecile pounded a drink at the tavern, then proclaimed that he was going to plunder the ruined temple of the ocean king! Bah! Utter madman. Though I'm getting on in years, I ain't never goin' half that mad!"

The man leaned toward a round column of the dock next to him, and gave the post several strong knocks. Linebeck, Link figured, probably wasn't the only one to pound a drink or two.

"Though," the man smiled, "he did order drinks all round, so, at least he's my favorite kind of insane."

"Where is this temple of the ocean king?" Link got to the point.

"Ghahhh!" the man reeled. "You're mad lad! You're brain's bad to be that mad lad!"

"Alright," Link carefully walked away, "thank you for your help..."

"If ya' find him," the man called, "ask is' gold plated skeleton to get us another round!"

Link turned around, and put some distance between them. Why did he always find the weird people...

"I'll show you how to get there," Ciela said.

"At this point," he said, "I would've followed anyone but him."

"Oh," Ciela said, "I think at least he'd be entertaining. Probably would've fallen down the hill on the way there though."

They left the town, travelling north into woods. These woods were filled with short, scraggly trees, almost like they were more tall bushes than trees. It wasn't a long or hard hike at all. It certainly wasn't the physical ordeal climbing Dragon Roost Island had been.

Other than a slippery crossing of the island's small creek, Link didn't have much trouble. Ciela led him into a thicker part of the forest. It was more overgrown, and dipped down into a bowl shape.

"There it is," Ciela said, flying ahead, "the temple of the ocean king."

A simple, yet impressive structure for an island like this. It had been reclaimed by the woods, but he could still sense how it had once looked. Stone columns had fallen down in front of the main entrance. It looked like a stone canopy once rested on top of them, but had fallen down.

An engraving was carved above the entrance. A teardrop, resting on top of a bow shape. It reminded him of the traditional emblem of courage. He took it as a good sign.

Link vaulted over the side of a fallen column and walked toward the entrance.

"Wait!" Ciela called, hanging behind. "You aren't actually going to go inside, are you?"