The Tale of Majora's Mask: The Birth of Time
Some say it is but a legend.
Others know of its true power.
It brings desires of selfishness.
The Ancient Ones, fearing its great evil.
They sealed it into shadows.
But this is the tale of before.
The origin.
The Tale of Majora's Mask.
-o-o-o-o-
Long ago, in a land where time never moved, there was a fearsome beast. It was a thing of legend, and its armor it wore was said to grant wishes. Because of the greed lying inside of humans, thousands and thousands of people of many races, sizes, and capabilities all went to kill it. However, man after man fell, and row after row of soldiers collapsed to their dooms, each one of them devoured in the end.
Then, years passed. Thousands and thousands of years came and left. Yet time never moved, and the monster was doomed to live on forever…
That was, until one day, it caught a scent it hadn't smelled in for what seemed like an eternity.
Far beyond the horizon of stone and rubble, past the vast emptiness of the cracked earth, a figure came walking towards it.
It grinned, showing sharp white fangs. The long hairs trailing from its head down to its body bristled in excitement, and its long claws traced impatiently in the soil. The armor around its body was dull in color, like stone. For the past ten thousand years, it had waited. But for what?
The figure came closer. It was a human, a long feather sticking out from behind a headband, a large cloak billowing from behind him as he advanced closer and closer. He wore armor under that cloak, the monster could tell. He was probably another foolish human here to take away his armor.
The people had made up the legend. Through their gullibility, they had come, and all died.
The man was carrying an object, a round bag. He placed it down with a thump, and then sat down onto a piece of stone. He looked up at the dragon like creature through his strewn golden hair, and suddenly spoke.
"This is your land, isn't it? Won't you let me rest here for a little bit?" the man asked, the faintest trace of a smile showing on his lips.
The creature sniffed, and grinned to itself.
"I haven't seen one of you humans in a while. And why are you here?" the man seemed to start for a moment, but the creature interrupted with a dry laugh. "I know what you want, you don't have to tell me."
"What do I want?" the man replied back, staring back into the creature's yellow eyes.
"You're here for my armor aren't you?" the creature laughed again, its voice echoing into the vast emptiness. "You think you can get your wishes granted by this piece of junk? That's just a stupid legend made up by the humans."
"Legend?" the man asked with a sly smirk. "I am but a simple traveler. Tell me of this legend."
The creature glowered at him, its hairs bristling as it shifted its claws in anger.
"Don't lie to me."
"I am not lying to you." The man brushed the feather. "Tell me."
-o-o-o-o-
The creature's eyes flashed, and it lowered its reptilian head downwards, glaring into the man's eyes. He simply stared back.
"You want to know the silly tale the humans made up? Well, then let me tell you. The humans made the legend, they believed that if they were able to take my armor away from me, they would be able to obtain a great, but terrible power…" the creature gave another laugh, its voice seeming to crack. Almost as if it was getting tired.
"Humans?" the man turned around and began looking about.
"Yes. Thousands and thousands of them, warriors, soldiers, travelers, men, women. I devoured each and every one. Their desires, their wishes, their foolish dreams. They stabbed me, every one of them tried to kill me. They only ended up killing themselves." The creature grinned down at the man, revealing his sharp teeth.
The man had now placed a hand against his head.
"That's a pretty scary story." He said, shivering.
The monster laughed, and smirked down at him. "Well? Go on, tell me your wishes! I'll grant them for you!"
The man put his hand down.
"I have none."
"None? Hah! You liar!" the creature sneered. "Why is it that you wear that armor then? You're a warrior, and you're here to slay me, aren't you?"
The man was silent though. The creature waited for him to say something, then spoke itself.
"If you have no wishes, why did you come here?"
The man chuckled to himself.
"I came here because I heard there was a horrible man-eating monster living here." He smirked.
"So you were sent to slay me?" the beast asked, leering down at him now.
"No. Sorry, that was a lie." The man replied. The creature grunted. "I was actually drawn here, by an indescribable force. The cries of the dead, yet not yet dead called me. As if time had stopped…yet not quite halted."
The creature lifted its great head, and scoffed.
"And how might you know all of that? You really are an interesting person." It said, flicking its long armored tail back and forth.
"I simply was wondering…how long this 'man eating monster' has spent in this world alone?"
"Unable to leave from this world, yet unable to live…How long have you been frozen here in time, to remain…forever? …How…harsh…"
The monster reared up in anger, steam pouring from its mouth.
"So that is how you see me! The fierce man-eater-"
The man's hand suddenly fell onto the creature's snout. It froze, almost paralyzed by his touch. Then, he sank back down.
"There is nobody left to eat."
-o-o-o-o-
His hand slowly slid down past the fangs, tracing the scars and wrinkles upon its face, and came to a rest back down at his side.
"Then why…why have I not left? Am I simply bound to the land until the world crumbles?" the creature paused. "I've never really thought about it until now…why?"
Its eyes softened, an odd pain welling up deep inside of it. "I am tired, I don't want to be alone. I want to leave this world, to finally rest."
Do you?
There was a flash, and bright swirls of light whirled up, thousands of sparkling beads of glowing specks rushing and rising into the air.
"Their desires…the humans' desires…they are turning into a whirlpool inside of me!"
My first wish…has been granted…
Time…make my time…make it move!
The man unveiled the object he had been carrying, to reveal a drum. He held it up in the air for a second, then placed it on the ground, where it trembled slightly.
"Time…the rhythm…dance! This is your only given stage!" he shouted, and the drum almost seemed to glow with power as his hands fell against it, each beat resonating into the still atmosphere around them.
Slowly, gradually, the creature's clawed feet moved, shaking, its tail weaving back and forth as it moved to the rhythm, and as it did so, and as the beat of the drum grew more powerful, the air began to shake, gales of wind forming, and the place glowing around them.
Time…is being born…
The desires of the humans rose inside of the beast, rising out and fading into the sky, which grew darker and darker. For three days and nights, the creature danced and danced, the man's drumming never ceasing. Finally, on the morning of the fourth day, the creature fell to the floor, its breath stopping, and the world crumbled into darkness.
As his body blew into grains of sand into the wind, all that remained was his armor.
The man wrapped up his drum, and looked down upon the rocky shell. He raised his hand to where the feather hung.
"You finally had time move for yourself. Your time is at last over." He said gently, then his eyes grew sharp.
He pulled out the feather, which became a sharp blade of odd material. With a swift movement, he cut the armor in two. Then, he sat down with a piece of the hard stone, and began to carve. Steadily, the armor began to change in form. He carved and carved with his blade, until finally, he had created a heart-shaped mask with piercing eyes and sharp cone-shaped pieces protruding from out of it.
"Your power has been sealed into this mask…" the man dropped the mask into the growing darkness, watching as it faded away. "I hope you sleep forever."
:END:
Disclaimers: Majora's Mask is copyright Nintendo. The story origination comes from the manga, which is drawn by Akira Himegawa. The translations, from which I managed to form a story out of was done by Goddess Rinoa