UPDATE AS OF MARCH 2014: Whoa. I guess I should have put this here, like...a year ago. But in case you hadn't noticed the MEMO in the summary, this story has been discontinued. There is a more detailed explanation on my profile if you're curious. It's really not a big deal. In short, I lost interest. Just thought I should get my butt over here and say something since it looked like this story was still getting hits now and then. I think people who click on this story deserve to know what they're getting themselves into.
Is there any way I will regain interest in this? No. If I decide I want to write about Majora's Mask again, I would much rather start a completely new story (not a novelization...) than continue this mess.
Will this stay on the site? Most likely, yes. I have this personal honor system thing where I won't take fics down unless it's for a good reason, and embarrassment is not one of them. I'll only get rid of it if I decide to rewrite parts of it into a different story one day. Always a possibility, though I doubt that will happen any time soon.
Beta Reader: Hoprocker
Rated: T
A mild T. Mainly for dark themes and some alcohol (Er...Chateau Romani) references later on. Also, violence and minor amounts of language.
Genres: Drama/Mystery/Adventure/Fantasy...Humor...maybe just a hint of romance. Honestly, there's something in it for everyone.
World: Majora's Mask and Post-Ocarina of Time
Other Info: This is a retelling/novelization (a very non-linear one) geared toward avid fans of Majora's Mask, not a word-by word rehash of the game. My goal is to provide new content for the old fans and expand Termina's mythology, not to simply transfer the game to a different medium. You came to read a story, not a text dump, didn't you?
That being said...be prepared for unexpected plot and character development, and some answers to long time mysteries you may or may not like (hopefully you will like them because I did my dang research and tried very hard to base my theories in canon evidence). I like to think the game itself is like an unfinished puzzle, and this story is an attempt to fill in some of the missing pieces. Though there are times when the old pieces will need to be altered to make everything fit together. Thanks so much for taking the time to check out this story! I hope you enjoy it! :)
-o-o-o-o-o-
~MASQUERADE~
"PROLOGUE"
-o-o-o-o-o-
"Link?" Tatl murmured.
Link didn't answer. He stood like a statue at the edge of the meadow, staring down into the small stream that trickled along the outskirts of Romani Ranch. His features were frozen in a stern, almost angry expression. But a tear rolled down his cheek and betrayed his true emotions.
Tatl sighed. She glided down to sit in the grass beside him, resting her tired wings. A sound like thunder rumbled in the distance. Tatl felt the ground tremble beneath her, as if the Earth itself was afraid of the terror that lurked above among the orange and black clouds. The rumbling died down until only a pair of cackling crows disturbed the stillness of the crisp evening air.
Several minutes passed before Link finally spoke.
"It's not fair," he said, wiping his eyes.
"No," Tatl agreed sadly.
Link looked as if he wanted to say more, but he just squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head. His fists were clenched at his sides, shaking ever so slightly.
"Don't beat yourself up," Tatl told him. "There's nothing else we can do."
Link took a deep breath. "I know," he said. "Just like we couldn't do anything about Darmani, or the deku butler's son." His eyes burned fiercely, his rage becoming clear.
Tatl shook her head. "Link, we've been through this."
"And there's someone else I've been wondering about. Anju's fiancé, Kafei. What do you think happened to him? Huh, Tatl?"
"I don't know."
"Did Skull Kid kill him too? Well? Do you know?"
"No!" Tatl shot up to face Link head on, wings beating furiously. "I don't know anything about him!" she snapped. "Don't get mad at me again!"
Link exhaled, his expression yielding. "Sorry."
Tatl flitted back to her usual space by Link's right ear, satisfied with his apology. She knew this was no time to start picking a fight. If she pushed him too hard, nothing good would come out of it.
"Are we even making a difference?" Link wondered aloud.
Tatl frowned. "I think so," she said, though she wasn't sure she believed her own words.
Another quiet tremor filled the lapse in their conversation. Link looked to the North, where the desolate Clock Town lay. And further beyond, the snow-capped mountains.
"That time we went to the mountains, and that time we went to the swamp...everything..." he muttered, "none of it exists anymore. No one remembers any of it."
"I remember!" Tatl cried out. "And you do too."
"But no one else does," Link said, his sadness suddenly replaced by a cold, hard bitterness.
"Link, if we both remember all of those days, then they must have happened."
"No!" Link shot back, turning to face her. "You and I only remember because we were the ones who erased those days!"
A violent quake shook the Earth and almost threw Link off balance. He put his hand on his belt, instinctively reaching for the Ocarina of Time.
"In a couple minutes I'm going to play the ocarina again. And then Romani and Cremia won't remember us anymore either." He took out the ocarina. "We'll run off to solve someone else's problems and they'll be left to fend off those things by themselves."
"Even if Romani and Cremia don't-"
"Look at me, Tatl!" Link interrupted. "I try to make one person happy, but sacrifice dozens of others to do it! I fool others by wearing dead peoples' souls on my face!" He thrust the blue ocarina at her. "And then I erase it all, forcing everyone to go through the same horrible three days over and over and over again."
The tired boy let his arm fall back to his side and looked away. "I'm just as bad as Skull Kid. No, worse."
"Don't say that!" Tatl pleaded, "I know you! You're nothing like Skull Kid. I'll never forgive him for what he did to Tael, to you...to everyone!"
Link didn't turn around. "For some reason, when you say things like that, it doesn't make me feel any better."
Another threatening rumble rebounded across the land. Once it died down, an eerie silence remained. Even the crows had fled…
"We should go soon," Tatl said.
Link looked back into the water flowing before him, where his own reflection stared up at him blankly. He followed the current's sparkling path with his eyes until it disappeared over the darkening horizon.
"I wonder..." he said quietly, "what if we just...let it fall. What do you think would happen?"
"We would all die, obviously!" Tatl exclaimed, appalled that he would suggest such a thing.
"No, really. Think about it," he said. "What would really happen...if we did nothing?"
"Link, you're scaring me."
Link's gaze wandered to the ocarina clutched in his hand. The sacred instrument seemed to glow in the waning rays of the sun. He ran his thumb over the holes that dappled its smooth, polished surface, a distant look in his blue eyes.
"Hey," Tatl drifted forward, "what are you thinking?"
Link didn't look at her. He brought his arm back behind his ear and threw the Ocarina of Time into the stream. Tatl gaped in disbelief as it spun through the air and made a horrific splash into the water.
"Link!" she gasped, clutching her head. "You-you moron! Have you gone mad?"
"Heh. Not at all," he replied calmly.
"You've killed us!" she wailed, bobbing up and down rapidly, too distressed to even bother beating him over the head.
"No," Link said, a small smirk playing at the corners of his lips, "I just saved us."
Without another word, Link turned away from the stream and began walking back up the hill toward the ranch house.
"Idiot!" Tatl spat after him, but he didn't falter. She glanced back and forth between the stream and his retreating figure, unsure whether to follow him or attempt to retrieve the ocarina before it was too late. It didn't take her long to make a decision.
She took off down the tiny river's path. If Link was going to be stupid, she'd take it upon herself to set things right. She darted above the water like a dragonfly, combing the ripples for a gleam of silver-blue.
And then she saw it. The ocarina was bumping along the bottom of the stream about two feet deep. For Link it would have been an arms reach away. For her, it was a solid dive to the bottom.
"I'll kill you for this Link!" she growled. She flattened her wings against her body, took a deep breath and plunged into the water.
The water was unexpectedly chilly, but Tatl stayed her course. She pushed herself toward the bottom, moving with the current, and stretched her arm out toward the ocarina. Her fingertips brushed against it, but it slipped away. If only she could get a grip on the flute by one of its holes. She parted the water with her arms to gain momentum and tried to grab hold of it again, but it remained just out of reach. Her lungs near bursting, she kicked out her legs and propelled herself upward. As she broke the surface she went to take in a gulp of air, but her vision and mouth filled with water. She tried to stabilize herself in the current, but her right wing had come unfolded and was causing her to veer sideways. She flailed helplessly, choking and disoriented, as the rapids thrashed her about. Her chest felt like it was about to burst, and for a brief moment she wondered if this was the end…
Next thing she knew she was slammed face down on the bank gasping for air, coughing and retching up the water that had seeped into her mouth and nose. She tried to pull herself up for another go, but a sudden wave of exhaustion overcame her. Her arms buckled and she collapsed on the bank, shivering. It was no use. If she were able to get a grip on the ocarina, it still would have been too heavy for her tiny arms to lift, even with the force of the water helping her. She was too small…too weak to do anything. She should have known it was pointless.
She sat up and spread her soaked and wrinkled wings, attempting to ignore the flecks of freezing water dripping from her hair. She sucked in some air, but her breath caught in her throat and she burst into another round of violent coughing. As she hacked her insides dry, her violent coughs became mixed with sobs. Not from the pain in her throat, but from the feeling of hopelessness that suddenly pervaded her mind as the Earth shook yet again. Tatl forced herself not to look up at the sky where the moon glowered down, fixating her with its unblinking red eyes. It cast an ominous shadow over the world in the final minutes of twilight, a triumphant smile stretched across its vast demonic face.
As if it knew it had won.