Notes: Well, I am back much much much much much quicker then I expected to be.
Why can't I write two stories at once? :
If you had not read the first Fate & Destiny story, I suggest you read it before reading this one. This takes place RIGHT after the events (which it's world was from Majora's Mask, thus, is why it is labeled Majora's Mask here, although it will have very little to do directly with the game, unlike last time) of the first story.
I will say the same thing that I had done the first time: If you like the story, please review it, if you see any stupid/obvious spelling errors/typos that I may have missed, please tell me about it. It's appreciated, and my proof reading skills are terrible. Not that I didn't know that the first story. I proof read a chapter 12 times and find out that it still had typos in it.
With these words set, let us begin the second... or, technically, third adventure.
Also, as a small warning, this chapter has quite a lot to take in at once about things in this new world. Think of it as Chapter 24, if as this is still technically the same story. This is pretty much just a different section for a completely different part of the story.
*Chunk*
*Crack*
*Wooooohhhh~~...*
*Creeeaaaaakkkk...*
"Phew... It sure is storming pretty badly tonight, isn't it Belgarion?"
Sitting in a small little chair at the counter. A white haired boy peeked out from behind a book he was reading. Looking no older then 12, with dark purple eyes, the boy's hair was tidily cut in a boyish look. Neat and even. He was dressed in a light red vest and pants, light brown heavy boots and a small cape that went down to a bit past his knees, spiked at the bottom with a little triangular design. The cape was trimmed with the same color of his vest on the sides, but the rest of the cape was a dark brown.
Placing the book down and getting up from his seat, he walked over towards the counter, where a female removed the hood from her head revealing deep red hair, and green eyes. She looked young, but was still an adult compared to the boy in front of her. A green patterned tattoo was on her forehead.
"Aye." The boy let out as he gazed at the window, as candles flickered in the room. Even though it was early afternoon, the storm clouds were so thick with rain and hill spewing down at the land below, that a light source was needed or else the entire building was shop. Belgarion leaned his arms over the counter, tapping his finger idly as he began to speak.
"This spills out to be a bad omen indeed... This is almost the third day in a row now. Storm is much worse then the previous two days. Almost as if it's gaining power. Yet last week, it snowed like a blizzard." The boy let out a sigh. "Ahh, it's kind of bad for business. I can't go out to get the ingredients I need for my potions. And if this rain keeps up, I almost think this swamp will flood. Then I'm really going to be in some trouble, heh."
The girl raised her hand, putting a finger to her lips. "Mmm? Bad for business? I thought people like buying your potions, especially the good luck ones?"
Belgarion shrugged. "You know how I think about those potions, Tyaeth. I don't believe in them. But some other people do. But I suppose if it makes them feel safer and in a slightly better mood from the mess we are in, it may be a good thing, I hope."
"Speaking of potions, and you unable to find ingredients, I came to give you the monthly supply for our contract. Although I do need two of the usual myself. Although, the supply is of course a little lackluster this month. So I will just take those two potions as payment this month. Acceptable, right?"
"Of course." The white haired boy replied. Before pushing his weight off the counter, and going back to the wall behind the counter. His eyes gazing at the assortments of potions he had in stock. Many different colors. Many different sizes. Many different containers to hold them in. He soon reached over to a low counter, pulling out what looked to be a giant pot with a tightly secured table.
"Super dose for the road should do." He let out, pulling out the larger, but not extremely heavy container, and then sliding it on the counter. "Easier to carry then two separate bottles."
"Yep." Tyaeth agreed. Before digging inside of her thick coat that was soaked on the outside, which had been used to ward off the terrible weather, she soon pulled out a seldom tiny wooden box, sliding it on the counter, Belgarion eyed it a little curiously.
"You weren't kidding about lackluster... Oh well, it cannot be helped at this time, I suppose."
"Yeah, sorry. I'll try to do better next month." The red-haired apologized, before taking hold of the container. "I'll see you when the terrible weather blows over, or next month, whenever comes sooner. See you 'til then little bud."
Giving a nod, the boy watched her exit out the wooden door. He glanced outside when the door opened, and shivered as a wet wind blew in, hissing out one of his candles, before the door closed. Immediately going to repair the candle that hissed out, he grabbed a nearby candle gently, feeding the wick the already existing flame of the candle he held to reborn the flame of the one that hissed out. When objective was accomplished, he rested the candle back into it's holder.
Belgarion soon walked over to the side of the window gazing at the terrible weather as hail pelted the glass window of his shop.
"Hmm... It's progressively gotten worse and worse ever since the month of Thebes... I wonder if it will ever return to normal... No, a better question would be if we can turn it to normal?"
"Yggdrasil, the core of the world, the world tree that binds this planet together, thirsts on a special liquid, and that has always kept the planet stable. Not once has Yggdrasil's food dried up. Ethereal has always provided the tree with the resources to keep the planet's life fresh and ripe, and keep it constantly renewed... This weather cannot be just a stroke of bad luck. The planet... is dying..."
Chapter 1 Introduction: Belgarion, the Child Alchemist
"...Ah... I was sure this was supposed to be a shortcut. But it's night fall and I'm still not there... I don't think I'm even close to Hyrule territory yet. Am I even going in the right direction? I ended up way off course..."
The brown horse trotted along a rocky wall with the green male, Link, on her back. Link's eyes fell half closed. He was tired. It had been several hours since he had left the mysterious forest, and thus, Termina after saving the country from impending doom, before a giant moon would have fallen on Clock Town, and the result... Link didn't want to think about what would have happened if he failed. He had nearly failed several times with his stay in Termina.
The final words that the mask had spoken to him in the final battle, was still inside the barriers of his mind. Several times he had tried to shake the words out. But with nothing else for his mind to think about except for trying to get his way back to Hyrule, and have lost his way, it was difficult.
"Hehe... Ahah... It is so ironic... Once to be a guardian... But my people had become greedy with desires and had become clouded with nothing more but greed and lust, and the want for power... I devoured their desires and them as well, it was the only way to protect them..."
"But every single human was filled with lust... I devoured them until not a single one was left... Then that warrior came... He forced their desires to control me, and trapped me as a mask! My armor was not magical... It was merely the desires YOU humans possess!"
"But not all humans are greedy and lustful!- -"
"HehehHAHAHAHAHAA! NONE! ? Nonsense! Even that trash that wore me for a little while was lustful for destruction! Everyone has a dark side! Even you!"
"Everyone and everything is a monster... It doesn't matter how hard you fight, evil will always prevail, because even the 'hero' will be evil in the end!"
"That can't be... - -"
"Heehee! You will see... You living creatures, as long as you possess the wellspring emotion known as the 'heart'... You will be monsters! You will always be monsters and full of evil! !..."
"Ugh... Why can't I just think of something else? Why am I forcing myself to dwell on- Epona?"
The horse had suddenly jerked to a stop. Link's tired eyes looked up, he hadn't slept ever since the first day in Termina, although he did get knocked out after the final battle, it was only a couple hours. But he had forced himself to press on. But the reason Epona had stopped, was because the mouth of a cave had revealed itself. The brown horse gazed her head to her master, wishing to know if they should change course, or continue walking around the cliff.
They had been scaling this cliff for hours now, trying to find a way around, perhaps there was a way through?
Hopping off of Epona, Link soon glanced in the mouth of the cave. It was dark, but for some reason, he could see a light source up ahead. Drawing his shield and sword, he motioned his horse to follow. Being as loyal as she was, that was what Epona did. As Link traveled inside more, he found that the cave was lit up by touches mounted on the walls. Perhaps someone lived here, or this cave was a common traveling place? Surely there had to be some kind of merit for lighting a random cave.
Despite the sound and flickering of the fire from the torches, it felt very eerie and cold. Link shivered several times as he walked. Knowing Epona was with him though made him feel safer, even if she was just a horse, she was a trusted companion.
"Ah, light!" He soon let out, before breaking off into a bit of a sprint. However, he soon skidded to a stop.
There was light, but other then a little piece of ground he now stood on, it was a complete drop into nothing but a slanted cliff, and water down below. And now, it was raining heavily, not only that, but Link had noticed, it was very early morning. It had been sometime just a little after midnight before, how could this be?
Link soon heard Epona let out a frightened neigh, and he spun around, his eyes widening.
"Who are you!" He soon demanded. "Release Epona!"
Holding the horse's mouth shut with some sort of leather device that was over her mouth, which kept her still as she jerked about, there stood a male and a female. The female looked to be a teenager, fourteen or fifteen, the male however, seemed to be older. The male had a scythe that he carried over his arm, as he grinned at Link, white spiked hair as red eyes glared into him. "Hmm. That's a nice horse you got there." He said as he held the reigns over Epona's snout to keep her still. "Unfortunately for you kid, I already know who you are. We can't have you saving this world - it needs to be destroyed. You've seen too much."
"Wh...What?-!" Link let out in disbelief.
"Tio." The male merely let out.
"...Yes, Krief." She said, before pointing her finger down at Link's feet. Soon, the ground gave away. Link let out a surprised yet panic yell, as he quickly grasped any remaining ground he had with his hands, as he dangled over a deathly drop. He tried to pull himself up, but with his exhaustion with his efforts over Termina still in his body, it was a difficult task. Krief slammed down on Link's hand that was holding his sword with his foot. Link let out a yell of pain, as he struggled to keep himself from falling. Krief leaned real close to his face that was contorted into pain.
"Heroes only make worlds suffer long in the bitter end. If we don't end them, they will only end themselves. You will learn this when you're dead just like we were."
"We...were...?" Link groaned out, before Krief stepped off of his foot. "You can have you mule, back." He said, before releasing the restrains on her snout, she let out a neigh, before once more, the ground gave away for not just Link, but Epona as yell.
"NOOOOOOOO-! !" Krief and Tio heard Link yell, as the boy and his horse fell down. Soon, their bodies skidding painfully against the cliff, and with two separate splashes, landed in the water. Neither of the two resurfaced.
"What a fitting end. Come, we have work to do." Krief ordered the younger female, whom gave a small smirk at what the boy's fate was, before the two both vanished.
*GASP*
Link sputtered as pain was dominate all over his body. He struggled to stay afloat against the water's current as his body almost refused to move. He was probably bleeding in several places, as the water around him was in red, but there was only one thing he cared about right now.
"Epona...! Epona!" He called out weakly, quickly glancing left and right. Before long, the horse soon emerged with a loud splash and a frightened neigh, Link quickly did his best to move over to her.
"Agh... Are you, alright...?" The boy asked the horse, before the sound of rushing water became louder. Link looked, as he realized, this was a waterfall.
Both he and Epona cried out as there was nothing they could do to stop themselves from being thrown out of the river into the air, where they both landed down below after falling several meters, before crashing into the water a second time.
Link fought to help keep the horse afloat, as by now, she had been knocked out cold. Link prayed to the three goddesses that Epona was alright. Doing his best to swim and drag the horse onto land he saw nearby. It took every ounce of strength. Fortunately for him, he still managed to keep grip of his sword and shield during all of this. Those two were also treasured to him. As well, he felt the ocarina of time still inside his wet tunic. That was also extremely important.
Successfully making it to land. Link sighed, before collapsing forwards with a light splash. He and Epona, half submerged in the water. Link grit his teeth. He couldn't move. He felt himself bleeding in several places. Despite how hard he struggled to move, his body simply would not. The best he could do was prop himself on his elbows, but that became too taxing, and he would just collapse in the water again. He heard thunder boom out loudly, as heavy rain continued to pelt him.
Link didn't know how long he lay there. 5 Minutes? 30? An hour, several hours? He could slowly feel himself slipping more and more into unconsciousness. His eyes soon caught movement other then mere rain. Although he was far too weak to lift his head up to see light brown leather boots stand near him. Whoever the figure was, bent down to feel Link's pulse. Then moved over to Epona. But Link never got to see much of that, for all strength left him, and he blacked out.
"Ugh...unnhh..."
Link groaned out as he shifted slightly, but winced as sharp pain came from any movement he made. Although, even with this, he rolled his head to his left, trying to make out where he was. He heard someone shift, as he looked at a white haired boy who seemed to be only a couple years older then him get up from his seat at a counter, dressed in the same light rest clothing he was in before, he moved over to Link. "Hmm, awake already? I'm quite impressed. Then again, I was impressed that was you still alive as well."
"What... happened...?" Link asked out loud.
Belgarion let out a small chuckle. "I was hoping you could tell me that, my little friend. You're the one who ended up on my property, after all. Although, I suppose you want to know about the horse?"
Link's eyes widened, trying to sit up, but he was stopped by a sharp pain, and he flinched from it as his face contorted into pain.
"I suppose I'll take that as a yes." Belgarion let out as he crossed his arms over his torso, before leaning against the counter. "To put it simply - you are in far worse shape then your horse is. Although she is so frightened, that I had to lock her up in my storage room, lest I have my entire place trashed."
"Phew... She's alive..." Link let out in relief, closing his eyes to hear this good news. Belgarion took note of this, but said nothing about this. Obviously this green boy cared about the horse deeply.
"There is a problem with you though." Belgarion said a bit uncomfortably, and Link opened his eyes in a bit of a worried fashion.
"Don't give me that look. You're not going to die or anything. But you will most likely be bed ridden for a long period of time." The white haired male replied. "I'm an alchemist, not a doctor. I make medicine, but I cannot actually take care of wounds. Although I have dressed all of yours just so no infections happen. That was the best I can really do for you, other then giving you large doses of medicine that controls your blood loss. And the fact I have to give you large doses worries me."
"Why is that?" Link simply asked.
"Consuming large doses of medicine in such a short rate causes medicine poisoning. Potions are nothing more then drugs in a liquid form with many properties in them that trick the body, accelerate a task the body can perform, or temporarily increase a body's strength. Of course, potions can do the opposite of these as well if someone designed one to do that. Uhm... Point is, drinking too many potions can make you become addicted. They are drugs in liquid form for quick and easy consumption, and are far more potent then pills. And when an individual has medicine poisoning, they become strongly addicted, and if they cannot control that addiction, they'll consume potions until they die."
Letting out a little bit of a yawn, having been up all night taking care of his special guests, Belgarion continued. "Although, I suppose you are too crippled to be wandering around my shop, drinking random potions to find the proper one you're addicted too. The addiction is rather uncomfortable, though from what I heard. Think of yourself as if you was starving, yet there was food right in front of you."
"So then... Where exactly am I? I was trying to get to my own world, but it seems like I may have ended up in another world..." Link muttered a little.
"World traveling, eh? That's actually quite known here. Even I have done it a few times to get a few ingredients to concoct a few special brews... Traveling between different realms however can be a little messy, if not expensive, though... Also, there is only one place you can do it. You see, there's many entrances in, but only one exit out. And that's in the core of the earth, where our world, is the tree that holds our planet together and keeps it, and us, alive, Yggdrasil.
"Yggdrasil?" Link questioned.
"Yggdrasil's roots feed on an essence called Ethereal liquid. As it drinks up this liquid, it uses it to create new life and renew old life. I do not know where you live, but in every single thing, water, food, nature itself, there is always a little bit of essence of ethereal. We, on this world, require this substance to live. Although we can last quite a while without the substance, it is still a requirement. Without the substance, we will die in a year or two. Some people take the substance in a bottle. Too much of the substance is actually lethal. But if you carry the substance in a bottle, you can live quite a number of years without having to live in this world. But returning at some time is necessary to refill the stock of ethereal."
"Ethereal is not rare as it can be drawn from almost anything all over the planet... It's plentiful, yet there is still the problem that, ever since last month, this planet has still been dying. Many people have tried to research why. I feel as if the tree has been stricken with some sort of disease of some sort..."
"That reminds me..." Link began. "Before I came here by accident, I was ambushed by a male and a female... That's how I ended up like this... They didn't want me to "save this world", apparently... I bet they're the one's who have been causing this."
Belgarion's eyes lit up with curiosity. He soon turned around, grabbing a book off of his counter (there were quite a few) before he began flipping the pages.
"Did you get their names?" Belgarion asked.
"The male was called Krief, the female, Tio apparently."
"Oh, I remember those two... About 27 years ago when I was still little, those two used to be alive..."
"27 Years ago? But you look..." Link trailed off as his eyes were serious with confusion.
Belgarion soon smirked. "Yes... I suffered from the same fate as they did..."
"Same fate? What happened!" Link asked seriously.
"27 years ago, the three of us, and a few others, were in a very serious accident... I actually can't remember what it was, I have no memory of my past life. Although I do trust what people have told me what it was like, so it's not like I don't know. Just no recollection of it. Anyways, in the accident, several people were killed... Krief, Tio, and I included..."
"But Alchemy is a curious thing... Using creations called homunculus, our minds and conscious were shifted into artificially constructed bodies. They were made to be just like our old bodies at the time of our death... As you can see, when I died, I was still a child. Apparently we were dead for about 14 years or so."
"The thing is, we are still dead. People have souls. We do not. We are artificially alive as if we were machines made out of flesh. We require everything the exact same a normal person does, but we have no soul. And our bodies will never grow. If our bodies become mutilated, we still do not die. Everything will just become black to us. There is no afterlife for us. The substance of ethereal fuels everyone's soul, because everyone's soul is tied to the Yggdrasil tree, even after death. But because we have no soul, we do not require ethereal any longer to... 'live'."
"Wow... How..." Link trailed off. What was the word he was looking for? Tragic? To not be alive, but to not be dead either. Unable to cease living even after you no longer are animated... Link couldn't fathom it entirely. The thought of what it would be like to "die" as a fate of a homunculus.
"I took alchemy as a study and profession after I was reborn. As I said, after we died, our souls were then infused with Yggdrasil. That means my soul is still out there..." Belgarion said, as he stared out the window watching the rain drops continue to pelt the world outside.
"Then what about Krief and Tio?" Link asked from laying down on the makeshift bed Belgarion had made for him. "What are their intentions?"
"There is one known way to retrieve one soul. And that is to destroy the world tree. When you destroy the world tree though, you destroy the world. So obviously you kill so many people because Ethereal will run out, and people will after a period, almost all die at once, and things will fall into chaos. I am not actually sure how ethereal is produced, but there's massive quantities of it down at the core of the earth. Maybe it is simply recycled like water, and when people die, that amount is recycled as well. That is my theory, anyways. However...
When the person dies, where would their soul go if there was no tree to take hold of it? It would simply linger. When a person dies, the tree renews that person's soul for the next life. This period is called the resting stage. When the soul is renewed, it will go into a new body. Yes, that means people reincarnate. Some people even have memories of their past life. So, partings are a sorrow, but they are only temporary. But some people do not regain their memories because of this. And because I have no soul, I have no chance to."
"And that is what makes me very pissed off. There was no need to reconstruct me into a homunculus. My death would not have been forever. I believe Krief and Tio feel much more strongly about this then I do though. We were lab rats for people while we were dead, and we had no say in the matter. Even if our deaths were in an ill premature fate as children, or young adults, there was still no need to take it that far..."
Belgarion soon let out an exhausted yawn. "...Excuse me. I've been ranting this entire time to you about alchemy, and I'm sure you're tired. Well, at least I know I am."
Link let out a small shrug. "It's okay... I should be resting too... We can always talk more in daylight."
"You're a co-operative one. I like that." Belgarion said with a small smirk, resting the book down on his counter, he went over to the door, fiddling with the knob a little, before Link heard some small clicks. He was probably locking the door. When this small task was done, Belgarion walked back around. Going into a small room, Link heard shuffling inside the room. Before long, Belgarion came out carrying a blanket.
"Heh. I have a few spare blankets. You will learn about me soon enough just exactly how prepared I always am for almost any situation." He said with a small smirk, before unfolding it out, he laid it over top of Link.
"Wow, thank you." Link let out a bit surprised at the hospitality that this other 'boy' was giving him, considering he was a complete stranger - not even from this world.
"Rain will make the building creak quite a bit some times. But think nothing of it. Goodnight." The white haired boy replied, before fizzing out a candle, and the entire building became extremely dark, but not pitch black. Link watched as Belgarion walked back further into the building, there was more rustling, and then a creak as he heard the boy lay himself into bed. Then the only other sound was rain drops constantly pelting the world outside, no sign of it letting up even once.
"Why... Will I ever be able to return to Hyrule now...? Will I even be able to find Navi?"
