The sound of clashing metal filled the room. The eerily rainbow-colored walls were decorated with masks, one on each wall, able to see into your soul. On first glance, they seemed normal enough, albeit strange. On a second glance, they seemed to sneer at you and tell you that they were bigger than you were. And, on a third glance, they seemed pained, since they seemed agonized and trapped. It was if the masks on the wall had minds of their own.
In the center of the room, a young boy and a vaguely humanoid demon fought. The boy was dressed somewhat simply. He wore a green tunic that extended about halfway down his thighs. His boots were slightly tall, simple and brown. He wore a long hat that matched his tunic, sloping down to the collar of his tunic. He held a large shield and a large sword, both of which were quite battle-worn. He breathed heavily, gritting his teeth in the process. He looked like he'd sustained serious injuries, but he refused to stop fighting. One look at his eyes told you that he would not stop until he won the battle.
The demon had a strange head, somewhat small, sporting a single eye and four horns, two curved ones taking the place of its ears. Its arms and legs seemed both muscular and scrawny at the same time. It held two chain whips, flailing them around at the boy and shrieking like a banshee. It was a horrible sight to behold, but the most defining feature of the demon was its torso. It looked like a giant, heart-shaped mask. At its two tips, it sported two large spikes. The mask was bright and sported two piercing yellow and green eyes. They at once conveyed that it was incredibly manipulative, that it knew your secrets and would use them against you.
The demon knew that it was going to lose this battle. The boy was proving to be too powerful to stand against. Even though it was faster, the demon couldn't outrun the boy's assortment of other weapons, like arrows or a boomerang. So, the demon attempted to contact another demonic force; this one was once a man.
That man was sealed away in a distant world, one known as the Sacred Realm. He was muscular and covered most of his body in armor. His head, covered with red hair, was bare, save for a gem worn on his forehead. He carried himself with an intimidating air; he allowed for nothing that erred from his plans. Should such an anomaly happen, his blazing rage would destroy anything that got in his way.
He sat, brooding, in a cave. In the middle of it was a triangular piece of land, surrounded by a moat of lava. The triangle was split into four smaller triangles, all of them equilateral. The man sat outside of that moat of lava, furious that he had not figured out a way to escape from this realm yet. Power was his specialty, not wisdom.
Suddenly, he heard a sound. It was a voice that was filled with desperation but also with malice. It asked "Is this Ganondorf?"
The man, long deprived of any company, threw his head back in surprise at that sound. He responded with contempt and pride, asking "Who dares to disturb the great King of Evil?"
The voice responded, mocking Ganondorf for a moment, saying "You're such a great king, imprisoned in the Sacred Realm."
Ganondorf, starting to become angry, yelled "Who are you? What do you want?"
The voice, slightly cooler, responded, "They call me Majora. I often take the form of a mask, but, when awakened, I unleash great and terrible destruction. I think it's fun."
The man, sensing that this would continue for some time, said "Enough of your life's story. What do you want from me?"
Snickering ever so slightly, Majora said "I want to make a deal with you. I want to go to another world."
"Then why don't you go on your own?" Ganondorf spat.
"My time is nearly up. An irksome boy is about to defeat me. If I knew what he was capable of, I would have killed him before he had any power."
"Heh!" Ganondorf laughed, "Defeated by a child. You're clearly some great demonic force."
Becoming more serious, Majora said "I possess the power to get you out of here. Do you want it or not?"
"What's in it for me?"
"I can grant you even more power. That's what you want, isn't it? Don't you want the power to redeem your defeat, to have a second chance?"
Still skeptical of this voice, Ganondorf said "If you get me out of here, I'll take you up on your offer."
"Consider it done. Allow me to open a portal to my world for you."
Slowly, Ganondorf could see a portal starting to form on the triangle rock. It had a pale white color, slowly gaining more substance.
Impatient, he asked "How long will that take?"
"Oh, it should only take a moment or t—"
Meanwhile, the boy, sensing that the demon was distracted, raced toward him and delivered his final blow, slashing the demon across his mask-like torso. It screamed out in wrath and pain, unable to maintain its form any longer. It fell to the ground and its form began to disintegrate.
In a moment or two, it resembled its torso. It returned to the form of a mask, seemingly powerless and lifeless. Four spikes returned to each underside of the heart. Staring at the boy, its eyes changed slightly and admitted defeat. Simultaneously, they exuded hatred; nobody was supposed to be able to best it.
In the Sacred Realm, Ganondorf, not hearing an answer, roared "Well, what happened there? Are you too weak to continue what you started, or must I finish this myself?"
The voice seemed more attentive when it returned, and it said "I have met with a terrible fate."
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"As I was talking with you, the boy defeated me; I have returned to the state of a lifeless mask. My power is gone."
"It's just as I thought. You're useless to me after all. I'll have better luck escaping from this place on my own."
Showing some signs of desperation, Majora responded "Hold on just a moment. If my calculations are correct, the boy will return me to one of my previous owners. He won't be stupid enough to wear me, but I'm too rare for him to let go. I can slowly sap his strength and open the portal that way."
Once again, Ganondorf asked, "How long will that take?"
The voice responded, "I can only take a small amount of energy at a time. Otherwise, he will know what I am doing and he'll move me far enough away from him that I cannot sap any strength. This portal requires a lot of energy to start up, and it might fade before too long."
Ganondorf proudly responded, "I can keep this thing open. I have a nearly limitless source of power here."
"That's a relief. Still, this is a very difficult portal to open. I hate to say it, but it will take months, maybe years, for me to finish opening it, a little bit at a time."
Ganondorf growled at Majora "If I had any other way out of here for now, I'd take it. But it seems I have no choice right now. Get me out of here, or else."
"Or else you'll do what? You'll come and get me, out of the Sacred Realm on your own? Shut up and wait your turn. I don't want to wait that long either, but you're my only hope and I'm your only hope. So, let's get through this."
"Don't ever say that I depend on you! Now, I'll wait here, but you'd better keep your end of the bargain."
"Oh, I will; you don't have to worry about that. When we get you out of here, I'll tell you how to get stronger."
In the meantime, the boy returned home, having ultimately found what he was looking for. He had saved the land, but he didn't want to live as its hero. Before he left, he took the demonic mask and gave it to a man with a large sack, full of masks, on his back. They had made an agreement, and the boy was fulfilling his end of the deal. He warned the man that the mask still had a great deal of power, should someone awaken it again. The man nodded and smiled, hardly listening to the boy.
The boy returned to his home, deep in the forest of another land. He found it strange to return after his recent adventures. He had left in the first place in order to find a friend of his, but he was ultimately unsuccessful. A part of him felt like a failure for it, but another part of him realized that he had done something good for others, putting him at ease. He still missed that friend, but he had others.
His home was in a village of other homes, made out of the trees, both on the ground and higher up in trees. When he returned, it was nightfall, so nobody was around. His home was one built off of the ground, so he walked the dirt path over to it, enjoying the feel of his native soil under his boots and breathing in the forest air. Then, he climbed up the ladder to his small dwelling and went inside.
It was just as he had left it, small and fairly tidy. The small wooden table was still in the center of the room, and his bed was off to the side. He took off his sword and shield and then emptied the pockets of his tunic. The amount of gear he had with him filled the table, and the boy smiled, no longer having to carry such a load with him.
Finally, he took off his boots and hat and slipped into his bed. It was simple enough, shaped like a log with a flat space for him to sleep in the middle of it. He had no blanket, but sleeping in a bed, as opposed to on rocks or grass, was good enough for him. He slept soundly through the night, peacefully for the first time in a while.
When morning came, he stretched and put on his hat, yawning as he got out of bed. He rubbed his eyes so that he could see a little more clearly, and then he noticed where he was. He was back home, and he had to see his friend; he needed to tell her about the journey he had just had.
He nearly rushed out of his house without his boots, but then he realized that the forest floor might not be comfortable without them. Quickly, he slipped them on, rushing out of the door. Before he even got down the ladder outside, he saw his friend running toward him.
She wore a green tunic, the same color as the boy's, and her boots were green and slightly shorter than his. Her hair was short and green, framing her face well. Her blue eyes glowed with a sense of wisdom. She was wise beyond her years. Today, she was excited beyond belief, because her dear friend had come back from his adventure.
Without saying a word, she embraced him and held him close. She had been worried about him, that he might get hurt or lost or killed. Now that he was back, it was something to celebrate, and, for the moment, it didn't need words. She let that moment soak in and she enjoyed it.
He was very glad to see her as well. He needed to tell someone about his new adventure, and she was his closest friend. He likewise enjoyed the embrace; he felt her care and concern in it, and he hoped that he could offer the same thing.
A moment or two later, she said "Link, how are you?"
He said, "Saria, do I have a story for you. You'll never believe what I've been through."
Smiling, she said "Well, tell me about it."
So, Link told Saria about his most recent adventures. He had saved a neighboring land from the demonic Majora, stopping the moon from destroying it. He showed that this had been a somewhat trying adventure, especially since he felt that whatever good he had done before his final battle was basically worthless. He didn't know if the people would learn from his example.
Saria consoled Link, reminding him that he had done a lot of great work for these people. Whenever Link didn't believe what she was saying, she would place her hand on his shoulder and would remind him that he did something that mattered. He looked up at her and smiled, starting to believe that he had done something good.
Link spent the next couple of weeks talking over the adventure with Saria. He felt that he would have to be in a much better mental state if he was going to talk to the princess, his other close friend, about this.
She helped him work through the pain of not finding Navi, his fairy companion. This turned out to be the most trying thing for Link, because Navi had been a dear friend and companion during his first adventure, when he left the forest for the first time. Now, he was back to being the only boy in the forest without a fairy, and he didn't know how to take that. It was very trying on him, because he felt like an outcast, except with Saria.
She was his only real friend in the forest. He knew a number of other people there, and he was friendly, but he couldn't open up to them. He could only do that with Saria; she had always cared for him and made sure that he was safe. She had been like his mother, and he always appreciated it.
On one of those days, Link and Saria walked through a more wild part of the forest, known as the Lost Woods. It was a mazelike stretch of forest, because you could get lost very easily if you didn't know your way around it. This was ultimately the way that Link had found his way into the next land.
They were looking for a very special place to the two of them, hidden at the end of this stretch of land. It was called the Sacred Forest Meadow, and they had often gone there to talk about important things. None of the other people in the forest knew how to get there; they were afraid of the Lost Woods.
Seemingly out of nowhere, a strange creature appeared among the trees. It vaguely resembled a scarecrow. Its glowing yellow eyes and beaklike nose caused it to stand out. Instinctively, Link pulled out his sword, preparing to fend this creature off. He would not let anybody hurt Saria.
However, the creature threw up its hands, shaking. Voice trembling with fear, it said "Please don't hurt me, Master Link."
Link quickly relaxed and put his sword back in its sheath. He recognized the creature in front of him and knew it was mostly harmless. However, Link still wasn't calm. He asked, eyelids lowered, "What do you want?"
The creature walked towards Link, and it fell down before him. Looking up into Link's eyes, it said "Master Link, I want to apologize for hurting you."
Link saw the sincerity in this creature's eyes; he knew that it was truly sorry. His eyes quickly softened, and he extended his hand, offering to pull it back to its feet. Chuckling a little bit, he said "That's all I needed to hear." Then, turning to Saria, Link said "Saria, this is the Skull Kid, the one I told you about. Skull Kid, this is my dear friend, Saria."
Saria, understandably confused, slowly extended her hand to the Skull Kid. Slowly, she muttered "H-hello there."
Skull Kid grasped her hand in two of his own. He smiled slightly and said "It's good to meet you." Then, Skull Kid turned to Link and said "I wanted to thank you, Master Link."
Link was taken aback by Skull Kid's comment and asked, "What do you mean? What do you want to thank me for?"
Skull Kid looked Link in the eyes and said "You saved me. If it wasn't for you, I'd still be a slave of that mask."
Link quickly attempted to brush off that compliment, waving his hand and shaking his head. He said, somewhat quickly, "Anybody could have done that."
Skull Kid continued to praise Link instead. "No," he insisted, "you are a hero. You saved that world from complete destruction." He paused for a moment and then added, guiltily, "destruction I nearly caused."
Link sensed the sincerity in his voice quickly. "That's not your fault. You didn't know what you were getting into."
"Yes I did. I knew that the mask was trouble, but I didn't listen to my friends, warning me. After it controlled me, nobody wanted to be near me. I drove all my friends away. Only you, Master Link, showed me any compassion. Now, I'm slowly working to gain back the people's trust. You turned my life around."
Link started to cry. For the first time, he realized that he had made a difference, a real and lasting difference on peoples' lives. Saria noticed this and held him for a moment, softly saying "I told you that you changed their lives."
Link lightly sobbed and looked at her, nodding. He then slowly turned to Skull Kid and told him "Thank you." Link dried the tears from his eyes. They looked different. He had a gleam in his eyes; he finally felt that he had helped someone for good. For the first time since his adventure, Link really smiled.
Link spent much of the next few days with Saria and the Skull Kid, having a lot of fun. Before too long, Saria reminded Link that he hadn't visited the princess. Link quickly thanked her and started running out of the forest, so he could go and see her again.