Majora's Revenge

Prologue

Many centuries ago, the three golden goddesses descended to the void, and from it, created the world. Din, Goddess of Power, used her strong, flaming arms to create the red earth. Nayru, Goddess of Wisdom, brought the spirit of law to the world. Farore, Goddess of Courage, created all life that would uphold the law. Upon this world, they placed their chosen people, the Hylians, who would protect the Triforce from falling to evil hands. They endowed the Hylians with magical abilities and long, pointed ears that could hear messages from the goddesses. The Hylians named the land they were placed in Hyrule. Hyrule would know a great deal of peace, but when evil threatened that peace, a hero would rise and drive it back.

But there is another world that the goddesses created, a secret world that the people of Hyrule knew nothing of. The goddesses had fought a fierce battle against a Demon Queen of unspeakable power, and sealed her inside a mask. They then sealed this mask deep in this world's hell, creating people to watch over the seal, and four giant guardians to watch over the people. However, the people of this land grew resentful of the three goddesses, believing that their giant guardians were superior, and began building a tower of stone to the heavens to destroy the Hylian goddesses, carving blasphemy into every tier. The goddesses, angered by the people's actions, caused the world to flip over, and the people built towards the depths of the world. They eventually reached the hell of their world, and there they found the mask. They built monuments to it, and took it back with them to the surface of their world.

The goddesses cursed this world, naming it Termina. The mask's evil influences caused the people to fight amongst one another, eventually separating into two tribes. One tribe regained the goddesses' favor and travelled to the center of the land to build a large pillar over the portal between Hyrule and Termina. The goddesses then placed numerous barriers over this tower that would repel the Demon Queen, trapping her in the doomed world of Termina. The other tribe, cursed by the goddesses, slowly deteriorated, their land of Ikana becoming a place of death and resentment. The spirits of these cursed people continued to haunt their land, never finding solace.

One day, a mask collector found the portal from Hyrule to Termina, and entered it out of curiosity. He questioned the people there about rare or legendary masks, and heard about the ancient mask of the Demon Queen. He travelled across this world and eventually found the mask in Ikana. Sensing its evil, he decided to take it with him and guard it, ensuring none would be able to use its power. However, on his way back to Hyrule, he was ambushed in the woods by a Stalkid, who took the mask from him. The Stalkid wandered through the woods for a while, simply admiring the mask with his two fairy friends, and eventually found the portal to Termina, where he had a history as a friend of the four guardian giants. He entered the portal, but upon seeing him, the people of the world sent him away. He left for a while, and put the mask on, hoping to hide his identity from the people next time. Instead the spirit of the Demon Queen took over him, but she was confused as to where she was, and didn't realize she was in Hyrule.

The Stalkid had enough power left over his body to control himself and began mugging people in the woods. One such victim was the young Hero of Time, and the Stalkid took the Ocarina of Time. The boy gave chase, and the two entered the portal to Termina. After cursing the boy, the Stalkid went back into Termina. The spirit of the mask, enraged that it was now outside of the barrier once again, completely took over the Stalkid's body. The Hero of Time set out to save the world of Termina from the evil mask which had summoned the moon to crush the world. He used the power of the Ocarina of Time to relive the same three days over and over, and freed the Four Guardians, who promised to help him. He confronted the Stalkid on the Clock Tower, and fought Majora's Mask inside the moon. After defeating it, he left the parallel dimension and returned to Hyrule, believing that the spirit of the mask was gone forever. But spirits that powerful never die easily…


HYRULE, EASTERN FOREST

I strained my ears for any sound of danger. But there were no sounds to hear, save my own breathing, the clop-clop of my horse Epona's hooves, and her occasional bray. For the umpteenth time I checked my pocket for the Ocarina of Time. For the umpteenth time I remembered the departure from Hyrule, my homeland.

It had been about 3 years since I had saved Hyrule and Termina. I had been staying in the Kokiri Forest after turning down a generous offer from Princess Zelda to stay in one of Hyrule Castle's guest rooms. I watched as time went by and I grew taller than my Kokiri friends, who would always remain no more than 10 years old. My days were divided between training, playing games, and wandering Hyrule, helping people who were having trouble and visiting old friends. Somehow I always ended up at the fishing pond. I was quickly a favorite of the pond owner, whose hair was beginning to fall out already. Then one day, around a week ago, Impa, the Sage of Shadow and Princess Zelda's attendant, came to the forest and gave me a letter. It was an invitation to the Carnival of Time in Termina from everyone in Clock Town. I thanked Impa, and said my farewells to the Kokiri, then left the forest. I had made a stop at Lon Lon ranch to pick up Epona from Malon. I had gotten a strange feeling in my gut as I looked at her, which still puzzled me. I had then travelled to Hyrule Castle to say a formal goodbye to Princess Zelda. She asked her father, King Torren, to let me dine with them and stay the night at the castle. After I woke up, I thanked the king and bade Zelda goodbye. She entrusted me with the Ocarina of Time, then I began my journey west, to the portal to the alternate dimension that was Termina.

All of a sudden I missed Hyrule. I had half a mind to turn Epona around right now and go back. But I knew the Carnival of Time in Clock Town would take my mind off that, especially since there wasn't an evil moon to save Termina from this time. I prayed to the gods that there weren't going to be any problems, and that for once, I could relax and not sleep with sword in hand like I always do. I wanted to see how Kafei and Anju were doing as a couple. I wanted to see Gorman and the Zora band perform. And I wanted to see Stalkid and how he was doing on stopping playing his tricks. I gave Epona an encouraging kick, and we galloped further into the darkness of the forest, heading for Clock Town.

For a long time, we rode through the woods, my left hand on the long Gilded Sword strapped to my back. You never knew what could be in the woods these days. Then something caught my eye, and I reined Epona in. It was the stump drawing Stalkid and I had made when I had left Termina. I stared at it. Unconsciously, I let go of my sword. As I was lost in my memories, two small spheres of light appeared from behind a tree. They turned to each other, seeming to converse, then flew towards me at top speed. I heard their travel and snapped out of my memories, drawing my sword, cursing my own ignorance. I looked around wildly, and they flew in front of Epona, spooking her. She reared, a frenzied squeal erupting from her and I yelled as I was thrown off. My head smacked into a large rock and I saw stars, which quickly faded to blackness.

"Shut up Tael, he's coming around!" said a voice that was distantly familiar. I groaned, sat up, and rubbed my head.

"Ow," I said.

"You okay, Link?" said another voice (again, familiar) as I opened my eyes. I looked around and saw 2 glowing spheres with wings, one purple and one a creamy color. I recognized them as Tatl (the cream one) and Tael (purple). They were twin fairies that I had met my first time in Termina.

"Uh, yeah…" I said.

"Tee-hee," snickered Tatl, blinking herself tauntingly (fairies can glow different colors – always returning to their original – and can blink themselves on and off; REALLY annoying when you are trying to sleep). Tatl was the more impatient and rash one. My first memory of her is her whacking me repeatedly in the face to prevent me from following Stalkid.

"Hi, Link," said Tael. He was more mature than Tatl, the calm and intelligent fairy that reminded me of Navi.

Navi..., I thought morosely. Where could she be?

"Hi guys," I said. "How have you been? Haven't seen you in three years!" Tatl giggled again. I cocked an eyebrow at her.

"He still hasn't figured it out yet!" she whispered to Tael.

"Shut up," he whispered back.

"Figured what out?" I asked.

"We spooked your horse again just like last time HAHAHA!" cackled Tatl.

"Last time…?" I said, not understanding. Then the memory came back: Tatl and Tael had flown up to Epona, spooking her and throwing me off, allowing the masked Stalkid to rob me of the Ocarina of Time. And they had done it again. I smiled. An urge to laugh suddenly came over me, and it overpowered me. I collapsed into a fit of laughter, and Tatl and Tael joined in. "You… You got me again!" I said, struggling to get the words past my laughter.

"Hey, how's Stalkid?" I asked after the laughing had subsided. I had remembered the stump drawing and was looking at it. He had decided to stay in Termina to make up for all the things he had done to the people of Termina.

"Last we saw him, he was doing great. Almost immediately after you left, he joined the Bombers gang!" said Tael.

"The Bombers? Oh, great! If anyone can set him straight, it's Jim and his pals!" I said. Then I thought about what Tael had said. "Wait a minute, what do you mean, 'last we saw him?'"

"Um, well, we haven't actually been to Clock Town in about 2 years. Fairies are most at home in the woods, so, after seeing that Stalkid was being good, we left and came back here," said Tatl.

"Ah," I said. I looked around and cursed. "Where's Epona?" Tatl and Tael blinked and dimmed slightly.

"She, uh," said Tatl.

"Ran off," Tael finished.

"Sorry!" they said together. They dimmed a bit more, enough for their light to become slightly translucent, and I could slightly make out their diminutive bodies. It looked like they were cringing, almost as if they were expecting me to grab them out of the air or yell at them.

Not wanting to be mean to them, I said, "It's okay," and pulled out the Ocarina of Time. I played a simple melody that Malon had taught me three years ago, something she called 'Epona's Song.' Within a minute, I heard hoof beats, and I turned to see Epona galloping through the trees towards me. She trotted to a stop in front of me and closed her eyes as she listened to her favorite song. I played another round to calm her down a bit more, then put the Ocarina back in my pocket. I reached in my other pocket and pulled out a few sugar cubes, and fed them to her. Tatl and Tael watched all this in silence.

"You're really good with her," Tael remarked. I took the compliment silently and stroked Epona's mane. For the first time, I looked closely at her, seeing how much she had grown since I had last rode her. She was already growing into the beautiful mare I had ridden as an adult. I stroked her mane and admired her growth for a little while, then realized the sky was beginning to turn red.

How long was I out? I thought. I got back up on Epona's saddle and looked around. Stalkid and I had drawn the picture in a particular clearing in which he had thrown me off my own horse and rode away. But that had been while he was still wearing Majora's Mask. I shivered as I remembered the frightening mask that had tried to destroy all of Termina. I still had nightmares about it and its moon every now and then, and each one had me waking in cold sweat. They had increased during the week I had spent travelling to Termina. If I ever see that evil, heart-shaped piece of painted wood again, it'll be too soon, I thought as I lightly touched Epona's sides with my heels and she trotted off toward the tunnel that led to the enormous hole that served as the entrance to Termina. "Just a bit further now girl" I said to Epona. She nickered in response.

Tatl and Tael flew around my head as Epona entered the tunnel into another clearing with 4 large stumps that increased in height. Partway up a cliff, there was another tunnel, surrounded by huge mushrooms. Before, I had had to jump to each stump in order to reach the tunnel, but now, I saw that someone had built a pathway between the stumps, allowing Epona to walk to the tunnel. I remembered what the letter had said about making the way more "travel-friendly," and wondered what they had done about the huge pit that was the actual portal between the two worlds. Upon entering the tunnel that led to the hole, I saw that Mutoh and his carpenters had built a spiraling wooden scaffold that led to the bottom. Just then, loud growling came from behind me. I turned around in the saddle, recognizing the distinctive growl of…

"Wolfos. Of course I am ambushed by something just as I'm on the home stretch!" I said, annoyed. Then I saw it is not just one Wolfos, but a pack. I swore as Epona got spooked from the growling and bolted down the scaffold, throwing me off yet again. I kipped up, drawing the Gilded Sword and the Hylian Shield that Zelda had had custom made for me upon returning to Hyrule ( After all, I was a Hylian Warrior, and besides, Termina's Mirror Shield had been… creepy). I whipped around as a bark came from behind, and saw the lead Wolfos had leaped at me, teeth and claws bared. I ducked, and it flew over my head, landing on the scaffolding. Acting quickly, I shook my shield farther up my arm, freeing my hand. I grabbed the Wolfos' tail, and, summoning my strength, lifted it off the ground and threw it down into the abyss. I winced as its piercing howl filled the air, slowly fading away.

The other five Wolfos, angered at the death of their leader, advanced on me, now barking aggressively. I noticed they were barking in unison, a trick I knew they used to disorient their prey. But I had seen this before, and I thought up a plan as they formed into a circle around me. Concentrating, I drew upon the magic power the goddesses had given to the Hylians, and focused it down the blade of the Gilded Sword. When it began to glow red, I switched to a backhand grip, a trick I had developed that allowed me to do what I was about to do without having to turn my wrist, as the sword was easier to hold straight with a flat wrist. I started to wind up listening to the barking, and then as they opened their jaws to bark once more, I unleashed Kaitengiri, which meant spinning slash in Ancient Hylian (the Kokiri had called it a spin attack when they watched me train because they found Kaitengiri hard to pronounce).

Normally, a Wolfos's thick bones make it impossible to harm them anywhere but their tails, but their insides were also vulnerable, and those were what I hit. The sword cut off their jaws, and the wave of destructive magic that expanded from it entered them through their exposed throats and killed them from the inside. I shuddered, and allowed the magic to recede back into its natural flow through my body. Nasty business, I thought as Tatl and Tael descended from high above, where they had been safe from the violence.

"Kaitengiri, Link? On a mere pack of Wolfos?" questioned Tatl. "Bit forceful, don't you think?"

"Maybe so, but they interrupted the wrong vacation. I was looking forward to bedding down in the Stock Pot Inn right away, but no," I said, an edge of sarcasm entering my voice. "No, they had to come and spook my horse and piss me off!" I sighed and sheathed my sword. "Ugh, I hate killing animals. It was one thing when they were under Ganondorf's control, but these free-roaming ones… It just feels wrong."

Tatl flew down in front of my face, bathing it in warm fairy light. "It's okay, Link. You were just defending yourself."

"Yeah," I said, not quite consoled. I felt I should do what hunters do in Hyrule; I took each body one by one and laid them on the ground outside the tunnel, then prayed to Farore, the goddess of courage and creator of life, to comfort their souls and return them to the flow of life and death.

"Uhh, why were you just talking to yourself?" asked Tatl.

"Sis, he was praying. He's religious, he believes in gods."

"'Believes in gods?'" I said incredulously. "I've seen proof that the three Hylian Goddesses exist. In fact, I bear their mark!" I held up my left hand so they could see the Triforce symbol on it. "Don't you guys worship the Four Giants or anything?"

"There are a few who do, but most Terminans abandoned worship and magic centuries ago, focusing instead on science," said Tael. I remembered how amazed I had been by Termina's technological achievements when I first entered Clock Town. Heck, even the inside of the clock tower had me amazed; I had never seen such a huge waterwheel, let alone one that turned a huge clock. And the fact that the clock tower could change so that people could stand on it had been even more amazing. It suddenly occurred to me that if Termina for some reason decided to invade Hyrule, we could fall quite easily if their military technology was as advanced as their everyday technology. But technology aside, I couldn't imagine not having a religion, even if it wasn't a true religion like the Trinity.

Or, at least, we know the goddesses are real, I thought. As far as an afterlife goes, nobody's sent a letter from it saying, "Hey! Dying isn't all that bad!" I shook my head. "We'd better get going; I need to find Epona and calm her." I went back into the tunnel and ran down the scaffolding. I was impressed: there wasn't a single part where it felt rickety or indeed anything but sturdy, even though the pit was hundreds, perhaps thousands of feet deep; yet another example of Termina's technological superiority. After twenty minutes of spiraling downward, I stopped at the bottom, bending over with my hands on my knees and breathing heavily. A neigh brought my head up again, and I saw Epona, who despite having been down here for around half an hour was still acting nervous. I approached her slowly, and she turned, saw me and trotted over, snorting nervously. I put my hand on her nose and spoke in a calming tone to her. Once again, the two fairies just watched as I took care of her.

After calming her down, I led her to the spring water pool in the center of the cave and let her drink from it, quenching my own thirst as well. I stood up and wiped my mouth, letting out a deep sigh of refreshment. After she finished drinking, I took Epona by the bridle and led her through the tunnels to the inside of the Clock Tower.

"Almost there!" I thought aloud, Tatl and Tael flying around me. I climbed the scaffolding up to the large double doors that led into Clock Town. I remembered struggling to open them as a Deku Scrub the first time I had ever seen them, both because they were incredibly heavy to the weak body, and because the Happy Mask Salesman's grin was boring its way into the back of my head. I now put my hands on them and pushed them open, with as much effort as I would have if I had been in Mikau's body 3 years ago. My own growth had been remarkable too; after only 3 of the seven years it would take for me to be the same age as I was when I was the Hero of Time, I was already more than halfway to the strength and height I had had. A warm dusk breeze brushed my face as I stepped into South Clock Town, a fine "welcome back" all in itself. It is good to be back, I thought.


In case it isn't clear, a lot of the backstory is based on an fan theory article by Hylian Dan called "The Message of Majora's Mask." It's worth a read, really changed how I look at the game and Stone Tower in particular.