Ikana Crumbles

by MrMadManiac

Long before the events of Majora's Mask, and before the land even became known as Termina, there was an empire: Ikana. Before it became a cursed land of the dead, it was mighty, and prosperous. But such glory does not last forever. And in one tragedy after another, it finally fell. Now only one remains, who can tell its story.

1. Chapter 1

The temple sighed with another gust of evening wind, and it momentarily drowned out the incessant chattering & jabbering of the beasts inside. It stirred one particular being from its thin respite of rest. The black thing groaned and grumbled as the hard floor that was its bed rejected them from return, and it stood. Its features were skeletal, its face was twisted into a sinister caricature, crudely fashioned from dirty rags torn from its own cloak. A conjured familiar fetched the creature's staff, and the hollow skull at the end silently greeted him with the blade between its teeth.

The creature wandered aimlessly through the complex, ignoring the jeers of the wretches that infested every corner of this once hallowed place. This great Stone Tower, once a beacon to the Empire, and the grace of Heaven, now a grotesque hive of demons and spiritual sickness. It looked out a window to the land below. This tower had become quite lively, for it being in a land of dead. Now, the few humans that truly live in this scorched wasteland, are but meager squatters, plagued by the specters of curiosity & greed. They seek idle wealth and knowledge in a land that offers nothing left. But what it didn't have, so very long ago. When the earth was dark, the water clear, and this was once the capital of the land. Where had it all gone to? It knew all too well, but could not help but dream of the past.

The tower stood proud above the Capital city, and he heard the calming patter of water from the many fountains in the temple. Pilgrims ascended the many steps, alongside the souls of the departed, praying and preparing themselves for their final destination. He smiled, and looked up to the sun & moon above it all. There, the angel dutifully looked back to him, and to all. The gaze was piercing, yet calming. Stoic, but kind. He smiled and felt at peace, until he heard something else.

A faint rumbling from below, and the holy pool began to bubble. He and all, looked down to see, finding a pair of great cracks snake up the walls. The tower trembled, and the pilgrims began to panic. Souls darted about in confusion, tumbling down the tower, becoming twisted and deformed with every step they hit along the way. He looked to the angel again, as he clung to a banister. The sun was gone, the moon was gone, and the Angel's screams echoed down the tower, plummeting into the pool. He looked again, and the water was blood red. He began to feel groggy, and uneasy, teetering in every direction. He felt heavy, and something pulling at his side. Then, as if all of his weight were pulling above him. The shifting light and shadows around him told of something else: Stone Tower was turning upside down!

He shrieked as gravity abruptly betrayed him in the inverted tower, and he hung from the shaking stone for dear life. The cracks spread, and the rock he held split apart, leaving him falling into the empty sky. His screams were stolen by the wind, as he flew from the temple. Down? Up? He could not fathom, but what he did notice in the distance, were the cracks spreading from the tower, and into the city. And just like the temple, it crumbled before his terrified eyes.