It's time for the second story of The Legend of Mario Saga, Majora's Mask! Another beloved Zelda game known by its dark tone and story that differentiates it from the other games. Because of all that time rewind mechanic in the game, you might be wondering how my story is going to work, right? Well, to let you know, my version won't contain that constant time rewind, as well as not adding all the collectible masks. In fact, the heroes are going to do all of the dungeons in a single three-day cycle. Don't worry; I know what I'm doing to make it work. ;)

Anyways, please enjoy! ;D


Chapter 1: A Terrible Fate

Darkness.

Nothing but darkness around. It was like a black void of nothingness.

"Where… am I…?" a certain woman thought, confused.

That is, until a sinister unfamiliar laugh suddenly echoed around the emptiness, which made the woman relieved and tense at the same time; relieved, because she now knows she wasn't alone, and tense, because that laugh somehow sent a chill down her spine. Then, she saw a figure of a strange man with short ginger hair and wearing purple clothes while carrying a large backpack on his back containing many masks slowly walking towards her. Judging by the masks he was carrying, the woman could conclude that he was some sort of salesman.

But the woman could see something unnatural on this salesman: he was always shown with his eyes squinted, looking like they were always closed, and a wide smiling grin on his face that never goes away. Just what's up with that man?

"Who are you?!" she asked.

"Good evening, young lady!" the man spoke. "I'm the Happy Mask Salesman. I sell my masks all over the world. I've got some really good ones."

"Oh, really?" the woman replied sarcastically.

"I can see distrust in you for me. Do I seem shady? Suspicious? I bring happiness. Trust me, young lady."

"If you say so." the woman shrugged. "What exactly are you doing here?"

"I came to warn you about something awful that's about to happen. You see, a certain mask was stolen from me. It's quite a mysterious mask, if you ask me. Because it can grant the wearer's deepest desires. BUT! While it may grant wishes…" he then opens his eyes, but the way he looked at the woman was… rather creepy, and the fact that he had his eyebrows furrowed didn't help the slightest. "…it possesses a terrible, terrible power. It's a demonic mask… an evil mask!"

"O…kay?" the woman stuttered, disturbed by the expression he shot at her.

The salesman then returns to its calm state again. "If anyone has that mask, it will be calamitous. It can only end in tragedy." he begins to disappear in the darkness. "Trust me. Trust me." his voice echoed before he was completely gone.

"H-Hey! W-Wait…!"


"WAIT!" the woman wakes up, springing up from her bed.

Who was that woman? None other than Princess Daisy. Yesterday, by the time her friends told her about the adventure with the Hero of Time, it was already late, and flying back to Sarasaland would take a while. So Daisy opted for sleeping in one of the castle's guest rooms just like with Mario and Luigi.

"…What was this weird dream?" Daisy asked as she was slowly panting from the dream she just had. "A very creepy salesman telling me to help him recover a certain mask?" she then shook it off. "Oh well, dreams are something strange anyways."

She gets off her bed in order to get dressed. Unknown to her, the same sorceress from before had listened to everything she just said from the guest room's balcony.

"A salesman and a mask… I think that certain hour is at hand if that's the case." the sorceress thought. "'A certain parallel world that's about to meet its end shall send a message, telling its cause through a dream. That dream shall reach a woman from an entirely different kingdom and must unite with the main defenders of the Mushroom Kingdom and the Hero of Time to stop the land's destruction.' That's what is written in the book of prophecies passed down by all magic wielders." she then leaves.

As Daisy finishes putting on her gown, gloves, heels, earrings and finally her crown, one part of her wanted to forget about that dream, but another part wanted her to tell Mario, Luigi, and Peach about it. Should she tell the others that? After all, the dream that led them to the adventure came out of nowhere just like what just happened to her.

"You know, maybe I should tell them about my dream." she spoke to herself before leaving the guest room, completely unaware of the sorceress following her.

Soon after she had breakfast, Daisy went to the castle's lobby, where she met with Peach, Mario and Luigi.

"Oh, good morning, Daisy!" Peach smiled. "Did you sleep well?"

"I did. Well… not until I woke up." Daisy replied.

"Why? What happened?"

"I just had a weird dream. It went like this…"

As Daisy was explaining her dream, the sorceress, still hiding, listened to it carefully. By how Daisy described it, it seemed that her thoughts were true.

"I knew it…" she muttered quietly.

"…Wow, first all of us including Yoshi and Toad had the exact same dream in the same night, and now Daisy is having strange dreams too?" Luigi remarked.

"I know, right? This is so weird!" Daisy threw in. "What should we do about that?"

"Maybe we can look for that sorceress." Mario suggested. "If she helped us get rid of that dream, maybe she can do the same to you too."

"You mean the same one who sent all of you into that adventure? Ooh, I wonder if she's going to send me into an adventure!" Daisy said excitedly.

"Maybe she will." Mario chuckled. "Now come on, let's go search for her."

"But where do we start, bro?" Luigi asked. "She could be anywhere!"

"Not exactly. I am right here." the sorceress came out of hiding, causing the group to nearly jump back from her sudden appearance.

"Whoa! Don't startle us like that!" Luigi exclaimed.

"Forgive me, everyone." the sorceress giggled. "I knew that you were looking for me."

"Really? So you already know about Daisy's weird dream?" Peach asked.

"Yes, I do. That dream was a sign. A sign that a world that's connected to Hyrule is doomed to meet a tragic end."

"Oh my goodness…"

"Wait… Did you just say a world connected to Hyrule? What do you mean by that?" Mario asked.

"This time it's not Hyrule that's in danger. It's actually a strange parallel world that is connected to it. And while Hyrule might be safe right now, we can't just let another world suffer an apocalypse like that, you know?" the group nodded at that. "I knew you all had generous minds. And also, I heard that the Hero of Time himself is about to stumble upon this parallel world as well."

"The Hero of Time?!" the group's eyes widened.

"So, you're actually going to send us there?! And by doing that, will I get to meet the Hero of Time too?!" Daisy exclaimed.

"You will!" the sorceress chimed.

"Yes! I always wanted to know how he looks like!"

"Oh, Daisy…" Peach playfully rolled her eyes at Daisy's excitement.

"Alright, before you go, make sure you're all prepared just like last time." the sorceress said. "Again, I will wait for you here."

The group nodded and started to make their preparations for their new journey, equipping new and old Power-Ups, Peach and Daisy bringing their tennis rackets, golf clubs, frying pans and parasols, and Mario and Luigi bringing their hammers. Once they were done, they returned to the sorceress.

"I can see that you're ready." the sorceress confirmed. "I'll start opening up the portal for you."

"Just a quick question." Mario interfered as the sorceress was creating a golden gate. "What is the name of the parallel world we're going to?"

"Glad you asked." the sorceress replied. "It's name is… Termina." the group tensed up by this name. "Oh, and also… try not to freak out once any of you look at the sky."

"Uh, what's that supposed to mean?" Luigi tilted his head.

"I'll just let you all figure it out!" the sorceress replied cheerfully… before she suddenly moves the gate with her palm and scoops up the group with it as they screamed, only that their screams were cut off abruptly. "I wish you the best of luck!"


Meanwhile…

"You are already leaving this land of Hyrule, aren't you?" Zelda asked.

"I'm really sorry to say that to you, Zelda." Link apologized. "But I really want to know what happened to her."

"I understand." Zelda replied. "Even though it was only a short time, I feel like I've known you forever. I'll never forget the days we spent together in Hyrule… And I believe in my heart that a day will come when I shall meet you again… Until that day comes, please… Take this…"

Zelda then hands him the Ocarina of Time itself, much to Link's surprise.

"I am praying… I am praying that your journey be a safe one." Zelda said.

"You're giving me the Ocarina of Time?" Link questioned. "But that's a treasure of the Royal Family, and I don't really need it."

"Please, Link. I insist. It has been kept in our family this long so that one day, it would find its way to you. Besides, you've put it to better use than anyone else. If something should happen to you, it might come to your aid again."

"…Alright." Link sighed sadly and took the ocarina from Zelda's hands.

"You do remember the Song of Time, right? The Goddess of Time helped you last time you were in trouble."

"I do. In fact, I remember all the songs I've learned throughout my journey."

After that, Link climbs up on his beloved horse, Epona, and turns around, ready to leave.

"Come on, Epona. We're leaving." Link told her as she began to gallop away.

"Link… Please don't forget about me, Hyrule and anything else!" Zelda called out. "You'll come back, won't you?"

"Zelda…" Link turned around. "I promise."


That flashback still didn't stop haunting him ever since he left the kingdom of Hyrule. Link had been away from the kingdom for days now, all because of one thing in his mind to search for: Navi.

Ever since they first met, Navi had been Link's fairy companion throughout the hero's entire journey. She proved to be a very helpful companion, always guiding him and telling him about many monsters whenever he needed. But when the journey was over, Navi had left him, and he had no idea why.

And if Navi's departure wasn't enough, he also had to deal with the departure of his newest friends, who had also been on his side and helping him out in his journey: those being Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, and Toad. He was already surprised that they came from another world, but that meant that they would have to leave to their world once it was all over. It was almost unfair to him; he just befriended them and they already had to leave. How is that any good?

As Link, who was riding Epona, was nearing Hyrule's borders, he found himself lost in a dark and dim forest filled with many trees, and I mean many trees; they were everywhere in this forest that it was hard to tell which way our hero was even going.

"Ugh, I can't see anything within this mist! I don't even know where I am now…" Link thought with frustration, wondering if he'll ever find a way to come back to Hyrule once he finally finds his old fairy companion. "Well, fairies usually live in the forest. If I'm lucky, I might find Navi here…"

He kept on, unaware of two peculiar fairies spying on him from a tree. One of them was white, emitting a yellow glow, while the other was purple, emitting a red glow. The fairies looked at each other and nodded before flying away… and their noise of flying caught the attention of our hero as he commands Epona to stop.

"Huh, weird… I thought I heard the sound of a fairy flying nearby…" Link mused as he looked around his surroundings. "Ah well. Maybe I was just hearing things aga-… WAAAH!" but then, he was suddenly thrown backwards from Epona since she whined loudly while rearing up on her hind legs. The cause? The same fairies from before just suddenly flew right in front of Epona's face, and that obviously scared her.

At this moment, a strange heart-shaped purple decorative mask showed up out of nowhere, following up by a certain scarecrow-like creature appearing afterwards, wearing the mask on its face. That was a Skull Kid; the form children take when they get lost in the woods. Skull Kid lets out a playful cackle as the fairies fly over to him.

"Hee, hee. You two fairies did great!" Skull Kid praised while he had the mask lifted up from his face. "I wonder if he has anything good on him… Huh? This guy… Well, that shouldn't be a problem."

He then puts the mask back on before trotting over to Link, now lying unconscious on the ground, and rummaging through his pocket. Eventually, he saw something that caught his eye as he pulls out the Ocarina of Time and begins to admire it.

"Ooh, ooh! What a pretty ocarina…" the purple fairy awed as Skull Kid started blowing on the ocarina, laughing in amusement afterwards before doing this process again. "Hey, Skull Kid, lemme touch it! I wanna see!"

"You can't, Tael!" the white fairy scolded. "What would we do if you dropped it and broke it? No way! You can't touch it!"

"…Aww. But, Tatl… W…why can't I try it out, too?" Tael whined.

"Unghh…" Link groaned, regaining consciousness as he sat up. Hearing the noises from behind him, he stands up, turns around and sees… "Hey!"

The trio heard him and turned around in alarm since they were caught. Trying to play dumb, Skull Kid hides the ocarina from behind his back, but obviously, Link wouldn't fall for that easily as he fixes a glare at him.

"I saw that." Link spoke sternly. "Now give me back that ocarina!"

He waited… waiting for something to happen, for the fairies or either Skull Kid to move as Epona watches silently, feeling the tension between them. Since none of those he was confronting didn't even bother to move, Link decided to go for it. He cautiously takes a step back… and lounged at Skull Kid.

Unfortunately, Skull Kid leapt away from Link before he was able to grab him. And to make things worse, Skull Kid just so happens to land right on Epona's back. Frightened, Epona once again whines loudly while standing on her hind legs before Skull Kid forces her to bail.

"No!" Link yelled, managing to grab onto one of Skull Kid's legs as he was trying to keep his balance on Epona.

This was incredibly painful for our hero, as he was pelted in the face by countless twigs, roots, rocks, and bugs while he was being dragged across the ground. Thankfully, this only lasted a few seconds before Skull Kid kicked Link away as he rode on into a large hollow log up ahead.

"Nngh… What was that all about?!" Link was boiling with anger. How dare that Skull Kid take away Epona like that! He wasted no time in heading towards the hollow log, jumping across platforms to reach the other side.

However, the hero was going too fast that when he came upon a dark chasm at the end of the tunnel, the momentum of his speed ended up in him stopping right at the edge. Failing to keep balance, Link plummeted down into the chasm below, screaming on the way down.

During the fall, Link was met with some strange-looking colorful neon symbols on the way down. The fall felt like it was taking forever for him, though in reality this only lasted for a few seconds before Link eventually lands on his butt right on top of a large pink flower.

"UGH!" he groaned from the impact.

He stands up, looking at the peculiar flower… until a sudden bright light lit up his field of view. Because he had been in the darkness for so long, Link had to shield his eyes from the brightness. But once his view was adjusted, Link uncovered his eyes and saw the same Skull Kid hovering across from him in a relaxed pose with his arms folded. His two fairy companions were flying next to him, on either side.

"What's with that stupid horse of yours?! It doesn't listen to a word that's said to it…" Skull Kid grumbled. "There's no point in riding a thing like that, so I did you a favor and got rid of it… Hee, hee…"

"You…did…WHAT?!" Link yelled angrily. "Who in the world are you?!"

"Aww, boo-hoo. Why the sad face? I just thought I'd have a little fun with you…"

"Do I LOOK sad to you?!" Link thought.

"Oh, come now… Do you really think you can beat me as I am now? Fool!"

Just then, Skull Kid's head (or maybe the mask only?) began to tremble rapidly as a purple wave of magic came out of it and started to fill the air around it. The air surrounding Link grew heavy as the spell's grip tightened; now coursing through his whole body. Link began to feel a massive headache, placing his hands on top of his head, only for the pain to spread all over his body as he heard Skull Kid laughing evilly at him before everything went black.

The noises of the mask's trembling were still echoing around him as Link found himself standing in an endless black void… before a swarm of angry Deku Scrubs came from out of nowhere and surrounds him. Horrified, Link made a run for it, only for a giant Deku Scrub to emerge and chase after him as the camera suddenly zooms into its face.


Soon, Link was back into reality. The mask's noises stopped, and Skull Kid was still standing on the same spot. However, our hero began to notice a few odd things.

The first thing he noticed was that his view was much shorter, now almost reaching ground level. The second thing he noticed was the lack of equipment on his back and pockets. And finally, he felt like he was made out of wood. Wait... made out of wood?!

He looks down at his hands, and indeed, they were made out of wood! But as he looked down even further, he saw that even his torso and legs were made out of wood. Frightened, Link looked down at the pool of water in front of him. What he saw made his eyes widen in horror: the person staring back at him in the water wasn't himself… it was a Deku Scrub version of himself.

Link couldn't believe that. Skull Kid just turned him into a Deku Scrub! The hero let out a scream that sounded more like a high-pitched wail, which sounded like a very distorted and squeakier version of his normal voice. Skull Kid, meanwhile, was laughing like crazy at Link's new form, just to add more salt in the wound.

"Ahahahaha! This is hilarious! Now that's a good look for you!" Skull Kid exclaimed as he was floating backwards towards the wall at the end of the room. "You'll stay here looking that way forever!" a door opens up at the wall.

"W-Wait!" Link called out, cringing a bit at his new voice. "Take this off me right now!"

He runs through the pool of water to reach the other side… only for Tatl to interfere and smack him on the head a few times, forcing him to stop and he even falls on his bottom on the floor as the fairy roars at him.

"S-S…Sis!" unfortunately, Tatl failed to notice that Skull Kid and Tael had flown up ahead to the other side of the door, before it eventually slams shut.

Since the door closing made a loud noise, it didn't go unnoticed by Tatl as she turns back to see the door closed. Alarmed, she quickly flies to it and calls out:

"Whoa! Whoa! Skull Kid, wait for me! I'm still here! Tael, you can't leave without me!"

She tries to bang on the door a few times, but nothing happened, making her wings drop in dismay. However, her wings were put back up as she noticed that Link was still there.

"You!" she scowled, zipping back to the Deku hero. "If I wasn't dealing with you, I wouldn't have gotten separated from my brother!"

"Yeah, right! As if this is ALL my fault to begin with!" Link shot back in sarcasm.

"Well, don't just sit there, Deku boy! Do something!"

"I'm not actually a Deku, you know!"

"Whatever! Will you just open that door for me?!"

"And why should I do that?" Link scolded. "You and your brother helped that Skull Kid steal my most important things from me!"

"Aw, please! C'mon, a helpless, little girl is asking you…" Tatl begged. "So hurry up!"

Link certainly didn't like that fairy's bossy attitude; way different than Navi, for sure. Even if he didn't want to have her hanging around with him, he had no other choice since he was in a place he's not familiar with, and only with the aid of this fairy would he be able to exit it.

"Fine…" Link sighed as he walked past Tatl. "Just don't get in my way."

"Alright." Tatl replied as she flew up to Link while he opened up the door with ease. "…Okay, how did he do that?" she thought, before switching her subject on her brother, "Ohhhh, Tael… I wonder if that child will be all right on his own…"

Tatl was very lost on her thoughts since when she snapped back to reality, she noticed that Link was moving on ahead pretty fast, so she quickly flies after him. The moment she finally caught up to Link, he had just reached a wide room with a few platforms and a chasm below.

"Hey, wait for me! Don't leave me behind!" Tatl called out.

"And why?" Link asked, still a bit sour at her.

"So, um… That stuff back there… I…um…apologize, so… So take me with you!"

"Excuse me?" Link blinked.

"You wanna know about that Skull Kid who just ran off, right?" Tatl asked. Link nodded. "Well, I just so happen to have an idea of where he might be going." Link's eyes perked up when she said that. "Take me with you and I'll help you out. Deal? Please?"

"Well, alright." Link replied with a shrug.

"Good! So then it's settled! Now then, I'll be your partner… or at least until we catch that Skull Kid… My name's Tatl. So, uh, it's nice to meet you or whatever."

"I'm Link. And I'm fine with you being my partner as long as you're not harassing me again."

"I won't. I promise. Now that we've got all that straightened out, can we stop messing around and get moving?"

"Okay."

With that, Link made all the way across the other side, with Tatl explaining to him about using Deku Flowers that allow him to glide in the air and also finding a chest containing some Deku Nuts inside. But when they got to the other side, they spotted some sort of small deformed tree, which almost looked like a twisted Deku Scrub since the main face resembles a Deku Scrub's face, although it looked sad and gloomy. What exactly happened to it?

"That's strange… The way you look right now sort of reminds me of this tree…" Tatl mused.

"You're right…" Link threw in. "It looks all dark and gloomy… almost like it could start crying any second now… How sad…"

"Well, anyways, we should get moving."

Link nodded and followed Tatl to the next hollow log. Inside, Link found himself walking through a twisted corridor, not too much different from the one in the Forest Temple. Everything seemed to warp and stretch as he walked through until he reached the exit at the end.


On the other side, he and Tatl were no longer standing in the wild; instead, they were standing indoors, inside a tower to be more specific. Sounds of water splashes, turning gears, and other sorts of machinery echoed around the place. Trying to recover from the dizziness he suffered a bit while venturing into the twisted corridor from earlier, Link made all the way to the top of the tower, but when he was about to go for the doors…

"You've met with a terrible fate, haven't you?" when a voice suddenly came from behind, belonging to the Happy Mask Salesman himself.

"How did he get here all of a sudden?" Link thought as Tatl hid behind him.

"I am the Happy Mask Salesman. I own the Happy Mask Shop. I travel far and wide in search of masks… During my travels, a very important mask was stolen from me by an imp in the woods."

"Imp in the woods… Is he talking about Skull Kid?"

"So here I am at a loss… And now I've found you. Now don't think me rude, but I have been following you… For I know of a way to return you to your former self."

"Really?!" Link exclaimed. "How?"

"If you can get back the precious item that was stolen from you, I will return you to normal."

"…My ocarina! Of course!" Link thought, immediately having the answer in his mind.

"In exchange… All I ask is that you also get back my precious mask that the imp stole from me." Link gulped at that. "What? You think it won't be a simple task? Why, when those other people from a different world arrive here, then it should by no means be a difficult task."

"Wait, people from a different world? Is he talking about…"

"Except… The one thing is… I'm a very busy fellow… And I must leave this place in three days. How grateful I would be if you and these other people could bring it back to me before my time here is up…"

"Hoo, boy…"

"But yes… You'll be fine. I see you are young and have tremendous courage. I'm sure you'll find it right away. Well then, I am counting on you…"

"Okay… This guy is not creepy at all…" Link thought as he nervously turns around and gets ready to leave the tower. "Why do I have a feeling I just jinxed it…?" he opens one of the doors and heads out.

Another perilous journey is about to begin for our hero. But what about the others the Happy Mask Salesman mentioned previously?

To be continued…


As you just saw, only four members of the Mario cast will appear in this story in order to reference the fact that this game is pretty short if you just play it normally without doing any side-quests (there's only four temples, after all). Speaking of side-quests, I will add and reference two of them in this story!

See you next time on the next chapter! Please review!