Micah came to in a soft bed. It was very comfortable, and for a moment he thought that the people of Kakariko had taken him in and cared for him while he was out.

He opened his eyes, and realized that it was dark out. So he closed them again, but for some reason couldn't get to sleep. He lay there, pondering over the day before. Or was it the day before? Had he been asleep longer than that? Link had told him stories about people put in deep sleeps by wizards and witches, and Micah wondered if he had been in one such sleep.

It was quiet. So quiet, in fact, that Micah began to get worried. Then suddenly, it hit him... Belle was gone! Someone had taken his guardian fairy! Micah quickly sat up, and just as quickly hit his head on a low wooden surface.

Micah groaned, rubbed his head. What was this? Had he been put in a cheap bunk bed? He thought over the rules of hospitality etiquette he had learned in his lifetime, and for some reason, putting a sleeping stranger in the bottom bunk of a bed seemed a little rude.

Deciding that he didn't like this situation, Micah moved his body so he could roll out of bed. He felt a wooden surface on his left... and on his right. In a sudden search of terror, Micah kicked the end of his bunk, and bumped his head against the front. Both were blocked by wooden surfaces. The realization was clear and ghastly... he was inside a coffin.

No sooner had the realization come than he felt the cushions below soak in a wet substance. The liquid was rising quickly. It was too thick to be water... and it had a pungent odor. Blood.

Micah slammed his fists against the lid, screaming at the top of his lungs. The blood continued to rise. In a frantic bid for freedom, his brain fired signals to every muscle in his body. His limbs were flying, assaulting the unyielding barriers that held him to his doom. He slammed his fists on the side, splashing blood on his face, and his eyes were wide with terror, seeing nothing but darkness.

As the blood crept close to his mouth, he could no longer afford to scream. He sealed his lips, refusing the grim liquid entrance to his mouth. The level continued to rise. Micah pressed his nose, the only dry spot left on his body, against the lid of the coffin, hyperventilating and nearing blackout. He squeezed his eyes shut and held his hands against the lid as the blood touched the top.

An arm shot through the lid, forcing splinters of wood and splashes of blood out into the world. The arm sought Micah's, and he gladly took it. The strong arm pulled Micah from the blood filled coffin and set him on solid ground.

Micah curled into a ball, coughing and crying. His limbs shook, and his breaths came shakily, interrupted by coughs and deep-throated sobs.

Micah hesitantly looked up to his savior. The man, young and muscle- bound, regarded him with a stern and steady eye. Micah looked at the coffin. It sat in the middle of a dirt field. There seemed to be no source for the blood, but Micah no longer cared for logical explanation.

Five minutes later, the man finally moved. He held out his arm, fist closed. "Your fairy," he said, opening his fist.

Out flew a bright, pink flurry of wings, Belle. She looked at Micah. Concerned, she said, "What happened to you?"

Micah looked over his blood-soaked body, and then nodded toward the smashed coffin. Belle seemed to understand.

"Well, you're safe," she said, in a tone surprisingly mature for someone like her. She fluttered over to him, and floated above his head. "That's all that matters."

"You should have paid heed to my words, Micah," the man said. "Fortunately for you and your fairy, I never had much faith in such a rash young boy."

Micah shook his head. "Wh... wh.... who arrrre y...youuuu?" he stuttered, through chattering teeth.

"You know who I am," said the man, raising an eyebrow. He pursed his lips and played a familiar tune.

"Gardorous," Micah whispered.

"I am Gardorous," said the man, "But I'm not the way you've seen me before. You are in the World of Delusion, where nothing is, as it seems. I tried explaining this to you, but nothing could have prepared you for your entrance. And what an entrance it was, eh?"

Gardorous gently kicked the coffin, and the whole structural integrity literally crumbled. The blood poured out, which Micah scrambled to avoid. Gardorous stamped it, and it turned to dust.

"There are illusions everywhere," Gardorous continued. "But they will still seem like reality as long as you think they are. If you knew the coffin was an illusion, as well as the blood, you would have had no problem getting out."

"It's an illusion?" Micah said. "But my clothes..." He looked down again, and to his astonishment, his clothes were completely dry. There was not a trace of the previous incident on him.

"I have good news and bad news for you," said Gardorous. "Unfortunately, there is more bad than good. The good news is, here, you finally have a chance to stop Karod. The bad news is, it will not be easy for you to get out. You have no magical powers of any kind. Even I cannot aid you in your escape. This could easily be a one-way trip."

Micah swallowed hard. "What else?" he said.

"You cannot destroy Karod as you are," said Gardorous. "You will need the Sword of Illusion. It's a legendary sword that allows the user to create countless illusions to fool his enemy, and one that shatters any illusions made for him. It's the only chance you have. I cannot tell you where it is... this is the World of Delusion, and as I've said before, it is always changing. What I can tell you is that it is in the direction of the sun, the only continual object in this world."

"The sun?" Micah said. "But it's dark out." He looked around, and saw the sun... to the north. It was bright, but its light did not spread. It remained as a ball of white in the wrong part of the sky.

"The rest is up to you, Micah," said Gardorous. "I leave you with a final word of advice: travel only in the day. Remember, this is a dream world. At night, the dirt field transforms into a metropolis of manifestations. And people in their dreams do not like to be disturbed by inconsistent elements such as yourself."

"How will I know when it is night?" said Micah, glancing over at the unnatural sun.

"You will know. Goodbye... for now." A gust of wind picked up dust and swirled it about, and when it subsided, Gardorous was gone. In his wake was a treasure chest. Micah pushed up the lid, and was disappointed to see that the chest only held a burlap bag full of bread and dried fruit, and a water bottle.

"Aw, I was hoping for pirate's treasure or something," he said, unhappily picking up the items.

"Treasure won't keep you alive over the next few days," Belle pointed out.

He slung the bag over his shoulder, under the Deku Shield (his only remaining shield), and looked at the world around him. It was unbearably desolate. There were miles and miles of lifeless dirt, yet it felt as if he was in a small room. His voice wasn't carried, and the sun's heat was a little over room temperature.

With a sigh, he said, "Well, here we go." And they were off.