Jillian shrugged off her disapproving companions after poking Zephyrus, “
You’re welcome, I solved another puzzle. What would you lot do without your fearless leader?” The smug attitude came without restraint once again, she crossed her arms nodding. “
We still have that keystone to find and our goron buddy, whatshisname. Hogsomethin’. Whatever, he must be pretty smart. Powerin' through all these puzzles. Gotta hand it to boulder brains.”
She followed behind Naviela, with Lethe at the lead. She couldn’t help another chorus of giggles at Lethe’s wariness. It was curious blood magic at work, she had never really seen it happen up close before. She figured the others were just as clueless as her with the workings of the weird temple. Everything about the place was mystics, mirrors and memory. Well outside her understanding of things. Jillian was no stranger to dark corners of the world, she occupied a pretty spooky place herself in the Lost Woods. This sort of dread produced in the Sheikah temple was something else entirely. Made her skin itchy if she let her mind wander.
The bridge appeared good and solid this time, with correct timing they made it past the first scythe still on the back of her puppet. A little tricky but Jillian controlled the puppet with short commands.
The cackling voice from the riddle resounded seemingly from all sides, loud enough to give Jillian pause to take a look behind them. Zephyrus already danced around her before she fully registered the ensuing wave of wallmasters, the first scythe swung past her field of vision, briefly cutting her view of the hands for a second. Alarmingly they crossed the platform, scuttling above and below the bridge fully intent on their closest target. Jillian herself.
“
MOVE! MOVE! MOVE!” She shouted at the puppet slamming her fist against the back of the wooden head. Fear clenching her stomach, her eyes glued to the mass of shadowy hands. The puppet without proper guidance to time the swing of the second scythe, mechanically shot a line of twine forward weight shifting to move only for the return of the scythe to cut the line. The puppet’s support crumpled forward, sending Jillian off its shoulders with a clumsy tumble.
“
Oof!”
She looked up in time pushing her hat out of her face to see her companions make it across to the other side. “
Don’t leave me! Help! Please!” Terror turning the pitch of her shouting into screams.
Dozens of hands groped her legs, arms, head and anything they could find purchase with. Snatched away, Jillian disappeared into their clutches. The light from the lantern was smothered out by shadows. The noise of her scream went out with the light, sudden quiet.
---
Jillian panicked, her little heart racing. There was no up or down. She couldn’t see a thing,
the hands felt cold and they were anything but gentle. She was forced to one pair of hands to the next. Pulling, pushing her unknowingly towards the little cell the wallmasters had dumped Felicia and Archer in. Unceremoniously she was flung through the ceiling, below where fiery skeletons lit up the area, thanks all due to Archer’s quick thinking.
Jillian hadn’t a second between panic attacks, the heat of the skeletons jolted the small skullkid into scrambling away as fast she could, hissing incoherently. Backing up directly against the bars of the cell, she automatically climbed up as far as she could go. Clinging for her life.