The Shadow Mites crawl out of the hole like they just hatched from their egg sack, taking over the wall and dropping into the water below.
"What the heck are those?" Ralis shouts.
"Go!" I yell at him instead of answering, but it's too late. The Shadow Mites are swarming around our feet, pulling and pinching. I kick one off my leg as I push Ralis toward the corridor. Time bites one in half that lunged for my back and runs ahead, cleaing a path for us.
Suddenly, the floor shakes and cracks form under my feet, crumbling with the added weight of the Mites. Time is the only one able to make it to the corridor before the ground falls out beneath us. I hear him bark in fear before my head plunges under the dark water and my entire body is seized with the biting cold. My body instantly goes numb, and my fingers fumble to pull the mask over my nose. When I finally get it, I gasp in a great, painful breath. My eyes sting with the salt water.
Beside me, Midna fights off a swarm of Mites, kicking and punching. I see her grow tired. She slowly sinks, unable to swim. Quickly, I swim to her aid, ignoring the Mites as I wrap an arm around her waist and pull her up. Ralis kicks away a few insects and pulls himself onto firm ground, then helps Midna up while I fight off the bugs. Time is still barking furiously when I emerge.
We race through the dark, stumbling without our flashlights. My heart pounds in my ears when I hear the pursuing Mites, their metal legs clinking against the walls. I feel one grab at my ankle and yelp, kicking it away. All around us, the Mites cover the floor, ceiling, and walls, creating a terrifying, writhing tunnel. They rush ahead of us and push together to block the way into the main room.
Growling, Time picks up speed and smashes through the insect-wall, snapping a few Mites between his teeth as he does so. The bugs fall apart and skitter across the floor. More fill the room before us, turning the moldy gold to black and glowing eyes. To the left, the wide double doors slam shut, locking us in. The men on the other side pound on the doors, but it's no use. The Mites have sealed it shut.
Midna tucks the Crystal shard in her wetsuit and fights off the insects. We try to push our way through, but more and more bugs replace the ones we've smashed. I feel my pulse in my ears as I chaotically punch and stomp. A few times now, Time has saved me from an attack aimed at my back. He goes wherever he is needed, protecting us with all the fury of animal instincts.
A Shadow Mite starts crawling up my leg. I swat at it, but it digs its legs into my suit. I'm able to pry it off my body and chuck it at the wall. It shatters, the remains raining down on its friends. I'm given a second of relief, and use it to search the abandoned temple for a weapon.
There! I grab a fallen candelabra and swing it at the swarm of Mites coming for me. It's much more effective than wildly punching and the long shaft sweeps the bugs away, killing a few in the process.
Across the room, Ralis is yelping as he tries his best to defend himself, but one Mite climbs up his back, toward his head. I rush to his side as Time covers for me, grab the insect off his back, and smash it against the wall.
"Thanks," Ralis manages to get out before another wave of Mites come. I give him the candelabra to fight with and search for another weapon, cursing when I can't find one.
Midna is fighting with an old piece of driftwood. She furiously swings, fuled by anger and the will to survive. Her movements look like a dance, sure and calculated, and her wet hair swings around her like a whip.
Watching her is my fatal mistake.
While I'm distracted, a dozen Shadow Mites jump me. They climb up my torso and pinch my skin. I'm so startled by it that I stumble backwards and off the edge of the floor. I crash into frigid water, my arm hitting against something hard I can't see. Luckily, the mask is still over my mouth and I can breathe, but fighting while submerged is difficult. I kick and punch at the relentless Mites, panick growing in me as I start to sink into the murky darkness. The salt water stings my eyes.
I quit my futile fight and focus on swimming up. This only gives the insects a better chance at attacking me. They stab at my body and bite my limbs, slowing me down with the pain they're causing. I hear the water splash as Time jumps in to save me. He does the best he can while in the water, but he can't get close enough to help me.
I gasp as a Shadow Mite suddenly appears in front of my face. I try swatting at it, but it easily dodges my slow movements and hooks a slim leg on my mask. I manage a tiny gasp of air before the water rushes into the free space. With all the chaos around me, I can't pull it up. My only hope is to break the surface now or get rid of the Mites and get out of the water.
Neither seem possible anytime soon.
My heart pounds in my ears and I feel my chest beat with panic. My lungs start burning after a minute. What vision I have turns blurry and black creeps in the corners.
Frantically, I try to swim for Time, but I can't manage the movements through the tumult around me. I see Time fight his way down, but he still can't get close enough.
Bubbles escape my lips. My arms feel like putty. I remotely feel a Shadow Mite crawl on the back of my head.
Is this the end? Will I really die here, struggling for my life, trapped in an abandoned temple and fighting to save myself from metal bugs? Will I be unable to protect Midna and do what I vowed to do? Will I never see Rusl, Uli, and Colin again? Will I never go to school with Ilia again? Will I ever make up for what I did to Darpa, Rioma, and Zeu by disappearing? Is this the day I meet Dad?
As these questions consume my mind, I feel the water push against me as something else falls in. I look through the hundreds of bubbles produced by the swarming Mites to find Midna swimming toward me. She breaks through the crowd, helping me push away the relentless bugs. Her hair looks like a growing fire in the darkness of the water, angry and bright.
Ignoring the bites and attacks on her, Midna reaches for me, ripping away the bug attaching itself to my head and pulling up my mask. Air is pushed in and the water is forced out. I gulp in the sweet taste of oxygen, my lungs expand. I give her a grateful look of thanks.
"Don't die on me now!" she exclaims through the scuba mask.
Together, we kick our way up to the surface where Time is still fighting. He holds the Mites back as Midna and I climb onto the sliver of floor to the left. Ralis still fights valiantly up where the floor is a little more level.
Now that we're on almost-solid ground, it is a lot easier to fight. The Mites have to come up out if the water, which gives us more time to smash them as they come. Time protects our backs, saving me on multiple occasions when a sneaky bug lunges for me. Soon, there are only a few left, and we quickly dispose of them.
Time snaps the last one between his teeth and gives a triumphant huff. He comes to my side and examines me for injuries.
I bend down to face him, affectionately petting his coat. "I'm fine. Thank you for helping us. And thank you, Midna." I move my eyes to her. She snaps her gaze away and crosses her arms over her chest. Her cheeks are a little pink. I'm worn out, too, from all the fighting and almost drowning, but I think there's something more to the color spreading up her face.
"What were those things?" Ralis questions, out of breath.
After a moment of contemplating her choices, Midna answers, "Zant's minions."
"Those things belong to the guy that attacked the castle all those years ago?"
"Yep." Midna grunts a little as she pulls herself onto the sturdy floor. I see her bite her tounge, and I immediately wonder if she's been hurt. Ralis helps her stand.
Time jumps ahead of me and helps me up. At the same time, the doors of the Temple burst open and the guards come swarming in, guns in hand. They take in the room littered with metal legs and computer chips, and flock around the king.
"I'm fine, I'm fine," Ralis assures them, but we all eagerly follow the suggestion to leave the Water Temple.
Before I even step out the door, I want to turn and go back into the dark, damp insect graveyard. A horde of paparazzi and news anchors are held back by the line of security, but they still manage flash their cameras and thrust questions at us. They look at Midna, Time, and I, trying to snag a few photos of us. Luckily, the guards stand beside us and get us to the limo without incident.
We're given towels to sit on and wrap around ourselves, safe behind the dark-tinted windows. Time shakes his body, flicking the water on us.
I pat his head as I turn to Ralis. "Will you please keep this out of the news? We don't want Zant to hurt you or us any more than he already has."
"Of course. I'll do my best," Ralis says. "But I cannot promise there to be no rumors or speculation. I can only keep what I know quiet."
Pressing my lips to a line, I nod. There's one more reason I don't want to be in the headline on every news channel, but I can't stop that from happening. I can only hope Rusl does not recognize me.
Across from me, Midna hisses as she takes out the Crystal shard from her wetsuit, but what I focus on is the long gash on her arm. Blood seeps out and soaks through the suit. I was right about her being injured.
"Midna, you're hurt!" I exclaim, grabbing a towel and pressing it to the back of her forearm.
"I'm fine," she snaps, ripping her arm out of my hand and hugging it to her chest. "I'm fine," she says, a little softer this time, when I reach for her again.
Reluctantly, I pull my hands back. I want to help her, but I know better than to pry. She'll only distance herself from me, and that's the last thing I want.
Sighing, I turn my eyes to the Crystal shard. The dark, long tube is engraved with golden swirls and symbols, like the first part. Wires come out of the side, hugging it like some kind of sci-fi technology piece. It looks like a barrel to a gun.
"That's the Crystal?" Ralis asks. He lifts an eyebrow. "I thought it would be an actual crystal. Why does this Zant person want it?"
Midna and I share a look. We can't really tell him it's a weapon. He might try to confiscate it, or he would have to report it. We can't afford that.
Midna sighs. "It's an old family heirloom. Zant's been after it and my family for a while now, attacking us and doing everything he can to get his hands on it."
"It must be extremely valuable," Ralis muses. "But if it's a family heirloom, why was it hidden in the Water Temple?"
Midna doesn't miss a beat. "To be kept out of the wrong hands."
We hold our breath, waiting for more questions we can't answer completely, but Ralis is quiet. He turns his eyes to the floor, then to the shard, and out the window. He must be running questions in his head, trying to figure it out.
Questions of my own swirl in my mind, mostly concerning my dad. How often did he see Ralis? How and why was he the only one to see the young prince on the beach? Why didn't he ever tell me at least a story of meeting a prince?
I understand that I will never have these answers. And. . . I guess that's okay. I still have memories of Dad, and I can be with him through Ralis. Maybe after all this is over, I'll go back to his palace and talk with him a little more.
Sensing this shift in me, Time puts a paw on my knee and gives the animal equivalent to a smile.
"We have to keep moving," Midna says to Ralis. "Thank you for taking us to the Water Temple."
"Absolutely. If you need anything, just let me know." He sends me a warm smile. I return it.
"Well, there is one thing," I say hesitantly after a moment. I glance I Midna, hoping this doesn't earn me a good whack on the head later. "Do you know anything about a place called the Floating Islands?"
I feel Midna's firey glare as it bores a hole in my head. I try to ignore it as Ralis thinks.
"There are old legends, but they're more like kids' bedtime stories," Ralis muses. "They speak of islands floating in the skies, of whole civilizations living among the clouds. But, of course, that's impossible. Why do you ask?"
I shrug. "Just curious." I look at Midna. Her eyes are still filled with anger, but it isn't as hot and flaming as before. I see the gears turning in her head.
"Thanks again, for everything you've done," I say as the limo pulls onto the driveway of the beach house.
"Anytime." Ralis pulls me into an unexpected hug. "Come visit sometime, okay?"
My lips quirk up in a grin as I wrap my arms around the king. "Yeah. I will."
He pats my back - something Dad always did - and lets me go. My chest swells with warmth as I leave the car. Midna looks at me oddly while we walk up the drive.
"What's with that stupid look?" she asks with a mild mocking tone.
"I'm happy."
Those two words haven't felt so truthful in years. Time barks happily, noticing the change.
"Hm," Midna grunts. She moves ahead of me, where I can't see her face. In quiet words so soft I barely catch them, she whispers, "You deserve to be happy."