Worlds Apart

Book one in the Hero of the Mask saga

Prologue

Unholy lights danced around the interior of the tent as the ear piercing wails of an infant drowned out the sounds of men chanting ancient incantations. Toros frowned. The ritual was not going as planned. The shamans of his brotherhood were doing their best, but it wasn't enough despite their blood sacrifices. He sighed. And here he was thinking that he could resurrect the soul of the dead and place it into a vessel. The sound of someone rushing into the tent made Toros turn only to find his wife, pale and stricken with horror, had entered.

"Toros..." she said, her voice shaking. "How could you... How could you do this to our own child?"

"Namu," said Toros. "You know as well as I do that this is for the good of our brotherhood."

"But our child!" screamed Namu. "Our daughter! You would risk her life for your own desires?"

"I'm doing what is necessary! This is a sacrifice that must be made and you know that!"

"So that's what she is to you? A pawn? You don't even care what happens to her?"

A pause between the two ocurred as the baby's screams and the shamans' chanting continued. Namu started to walk past her husband, but she was grabbed by him and thrown to the floor.

"Foolish woman," Toros muttered coldly. "You do not even understand what we could possibly achieve when she becomes its vessel. Majora will be revived... And you will not interfere."

Namu looked up to him as tears poured down her cheeks and harsh sobs escaped her. Toros turned back to the ritual that was occuring. She would never understand, he thought. But that was fine with him. He only needed her to understand that his word was law and there was nothing she could do to oppose him, regardless if she was his wife or not. It was only a few moments later that there was a great flash of white and the lights that illuminated the tent disappeared. Infant went silent, as did the shamans.

One shaman walked over to the bundled child lying on the floor in the middle of a ancient and forbidden symbol. He picked her up and walked over to Toros. The child was still and not moving. The mask that once contained the demon, Majora, was still in tact and covered her face.

"I'm sorry," said the shaman. "We have managed to revive Majora, but its spirit did not successfully enter the mask. And... I'm afraid that your daughter did not survive the process."

Namu gasped in horror.

"Hmm..." was all that Toros could say.

"What should we do with the body, sir?" asked the shaman.

"Throw it into the jungle. Her body will make a perfect sacrifice for our god's messenger beasts." replied Toros.

"What?" asked Namu as she then began crying uncontrollably. "What happened to you, Toros? What dark thoughts have corrupted your mind? Have you no heart? That was our child, you monster!"

The shamans gathered and began to remove the mask from the baby... but it would not leave her face no matter how much they pulled.

"It's stuck?" asked an astonished shaman.

"But how could this..." asked another.

"It matters not," said Toros. "We will guide its spirit to another object and host. For now, dispose of the body."

"Yes, sir." said the first shaman.

Namu then rose up, rushed to the shaman holding the deceased child and struggled to rip her from his grasp.

"Restrain her!" ordered Toros.

Two other shamans grabbed Namu, preventing her from trying to reach the shaman holding the baby. She kicked and struggled and bawled as the other shamans left the tent, but the ones holding her back had strong hands. As soon as they and her husband were out of sight, she finally gave up and sank to her knees in defeat. There, she cried and cried throughout the night.

The sun peeked out from behind the mountains, giving light to the world. Within the jungle were a pair of young married traveling merchants with their heavy packs venturing their way towards Clock Town. Earlier that week, they were exchanging goods at some Deku villages. One of the travelers, the husband, yawned and stretched his arms over his head.

"Millie," he mumbled sleepily. "Remind me again why we have to wake up this early."

The wife, Millie, sighed.

"You really are hopeless sometimes, Reuben. We need to restock so we can get going to the next town and get there before the sun sets. I'd rather not travel at night; too many monsters."

"You and your traveling instincts." mused Reuben.

"Hey, hey," said Millie. "My traveling instincts are always right! Not once have they let me dow-"

It was at that moment, that Millie tripped over something and fell flat on her face. Reuben rushed over to her side as she lifted herself off the ground, brushing the dirt off of her face and tunic.

"Are you alright?" asked Reuben.

"Yeah, this is nothing," muttered Millie. "But what was that? It didn't feel like I tripped over a log."

Millie stood up and turned around to see what it was she tripped over. At first she thought it was a rock, but when she looked at the ground, she saw a small bundle of dirt-covered cloth lying motionless on its side.

"Is that a..." started Millie.

"A baby?" asked Reuben.

They Reuben walked over to the bundle and kneeled down to get a closer look. He frowned and sighed.

"Doesn't look like its breathing." he said in a quiet and somber tone.

"Oh no..." whispered Millie.

But just as Reuben was about to flip the baby onto its back, it sprung to life, coughing and struggling to breathe. The sight of it made the couple jump. After taking a few deep breaths, the baby started to cry. The couple looked at each other, relieved. However, when Reuben turned the baby over, they both jumped back, shocked. On the baby's face was a mask that was feared by everyone even to this day; Majora's Mask. It was at this moment that Millie and Reuben's relief turned to uneasiness. They both looked at each other.

"Wh-What are we going to do with it?" asked Reuben.

"Well, we can't just leave it here... can we?" asked Millie.

"Honey, it's cursed with the Majora's Mask," said Reuben. "What would everyone think if we just brought it home?"

Millie glanced at the crying baby. She thought about how it was alone, cold and hungry. She pitied it. It had no family or home to go to. If they left the baby on its own, it would surely die. Millie bent down to the baby and began to unfold the bundle.

"Um, Millie," asked Reuben. "What are you doing?"

"Relax, I want to see if it's a boy or a girl." replied Millie

"Wait, we're not seriously bringing it home, are we?"

"Of course we are!" said Millie who then started folding the bundle back up. "You know how we've been planning on having kids for some time. So, why not start with her?"

Reuben blinked.

"Her?"

"Yeah, smart one, it's a girl." said Millie flatly. "First, we need to figure out a name..."

"A-Alright." muttered Reuben.

The couple began thinking. After a moment, Millie thought of a name.

"Hey!" she smiled. "What about Kasuto?"

"Kasuto?" asked Reuben.

"It was my great grandmother's name," explained Millie. "I always liked how pretty it sounded."

"Okay," nodded Reuben. "Kasuto it is. I still think this is a bad idea, though."

"Trust me," said Millie scooping the baby into her arms. "You won't regret it. I promise."