The floor was hard and damp beneath him. His ears picked up the loud ticking of a clock.
"You've met with a terrible fate, haven't you?"
That...voice...
Link passed a hand over his sweaty brow and sat up off the floor, finding his vision blurred, his mouth moist with sickness.
A tall man grinned down at him, hands clenched together in excitement, his back bent, wrinkling his elegant purple clothes.
Link slowly got to his feet, eying the man carefully. Yes. He had definitely met this man before. In another life, another time...
"Won't you at least say hello, old friend?" Asked the man, extending a hand in gesture.
This startled Link. So the feeling was mutual. They did know each other. But why was he here? Had he not already played his part in saving this world...?
As if reading his thoughts, the mysterious man sighed, dropping his useless hand to his side. "Time has grown very dark in your absence, Hero of Time. Too dark; even the moon itself has hidden itself away behind a black cloud."
The torches within the clock tower crackled and hushed, the flames like melting sunsets. Link stood still and listened as the man continued in his melodious voice.
"As you have probably seen, I am missing my entire collection of masks. Do you know who took them? I shall tell you; the one who repented for his sins has returned to commit the same terrible crime."
Link's eyes opened wide. He was talking about the Skull Kid!
"He is older now, but very little has changed; he is still the mastermind of tricks and the cause of some many peoples sufferings..." Here, the man put his palms together. A prayer to no one. "Oh, how I wish you had been brought sooner!"
Link checked himself over, finding himself wearing his sword in its sheath, his ocarina around his neck, a dagger, and a small bag of rupees.
"I see you are getting ready. Are you prepared to once again face your destiny, Hero?"
Link wetted his lips, prepared to make a response. He was so full of questions! But it was the mysterious salesman that spoke first.
"It is time for you to begin your journey. But first, I have something for you." The man withdrew a bottle from his pocket. Inside it, a tiny fairy, bathed in its own light, hummed and knocked against the glass. "Do you recognize her, Hero? Yes. I thought you might. Here. May she serve as a guide to you in these dark time."
Link did not waste time opening the bottle. Navi, his beloved friend he had been searching for all these years, flew against his neck and hugged him, her tiny arms unseen by her inner light. But he felt it all the same; he felt the love the fairy had for him and was stronger because of it. Right then, he made a vow to never lose his friend again. Link stepped towards the large double doors to leave.
In the gloom of the tower, the mask salesman continued to grin his impossible grin, rubbing his hands together like a thief. "Good luck," he whispered. "Good bye."
..
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...
.
..
Ten days prior.
When Ganondorf found the boy, he had been playing gently with a daisy in a field, a long yellow smile across his face.
The dark horse Ganon road upon slowed to a halt in the tall grass, nostrils flared, eyes red as pomegranates.
"Boy," Ganon called down to the skull kid, who flinched and looked up wildly. "Are the stories of your wickedness true? Or has kindness made the beast within you grow tame?"
"I... I don't know what you're saying..." The skull kid lowered his eyes.
"I think you do." Ganon's grip on the reigns tightened. "According to legend, your powers were given to you by a mask... I am looking for this mask. I want it. And I know you know where it is, boy."
Skull Kid's shoulders started shaking. "I don't know..." He whispered.
Ganon dismounted his horse, his heavy boots crippling the earth. The man reached out quickly and grabbed the kid by his neck, raising him off the ground. "You'd be wise to not deny me of my wishes..." Ganondorf growled. "I am a generous man, so I will make you an offer. Show me where the mask is, and in return, I shall make you my apprentice."
So tight was the grip on his throat, that the skull kid could not verbally disagree. He wiggled and thrashed in the air like a strangled chicken, but this only made Ganon laugh in his big voice.
"Hah hah hah!" Ganondorf flung the skull kid away from him. "Then we are at an agreement." The man climbed onto his horse and looked out towards the circular walls which surrounded Clock Town.
The skull kid stood up from where he had been thrown and stepped sideways, putting distance between himself and Ganon. "F-follow me..." The Kid said hoarsely, then shuffled forward, heading in the direction of the beach.
Ganon pulled his horse roughly and cut in front of the Skull Kid. "Where are you taking me?" He demanded.
"The salesman is visiting the Zora." Skull Kid explained softly, remorse dripping in his words for telling the truth. "I am taking you to him."
"Ah, yes... The Zora. You did quite a naughty thing, hiding the princess' precious eggs... It would have been murder, if you'd have gotten away with it." Ganon sat back on his horse and smiled, his gaze fixed on the road ahead, lost in his imagination.
The skull kid looked off towards the beach, which was guarded by a low wall. Creatures stirred beneath the sand. Dangerous ones whose only purpose was to cause pain. The Kid shuddered.
Just then, along came the Happy Mask Salesman, all smiles, a small green fellow in a pointy hat trotting along beside him.
"Lucky lucky, you're so lucky!" Cried the little man, waving his hand-drawn maps in the salesman's face.
The salesman wrung his hands together and nodded politely, smiling, smiling... The large bag of masks stuck out behind him like a hump on a camel.
The Skull Kid's breathing became heavy, staring across the beach fearfully, shaking his head, arguing with himself over right and wrong.
Ganon noticed this and his eyes widened with greed. He pointed a finger out towards the man and the fairy. "Kid. Bring me that mask."
The skull kid gripped the sides of his head and cried. "I won't do it!"
Ganondorf reached out on his horse and kicked the skull kid in the side. "Do it or die!" He commanded.
The Kid stumbled forward, then jogged, then ran, tears forming in his eyes. "I'm sorry..." He whispered, picking up a rock from the sand.
Seeing the skull kid rushing over, the map-making fairy blew up a balloon and drifted off with the wind.
"Oh, it's you again." Said the salesman, fearless.
The Skull Kid leaped and struck down hard against the salesman's head with the rock, the two of them falling into the sand. The kid lifted the rock and bashed the man repeatedly until he stopped squirming, then he sat back and watched, a red wound blossoming in several places on the man's forehead.
Ganondorf arrived and dismounted at once. He ransacked the salesman's belongings, fingers touching, eyes glaring, discarding the useless masks in the sand. Then at last, he lifted up the prize he thirsted for; the Majora's Mask.
Even in the hands of another, the skull kid could still feel the mask's power, it's dark influence.
However, the large man had too big a head for the mask to fit. Ganon's snarl of irritation warped into a cruel smile. "I'll just let you wear it..." He said, passing it down to the Kid. "And you will do as I say. Or I will kill you."
Swallowing hard, Skull Kid took the mask into his hands and stared into its painted eyes. Everything within him screamed for him to drop the mask and run away. But something warm and familiar tugged at his heart; it was the desire for the power and strength and courage he never had... Majora's Mask, however... It could grant him all of this, and more...
The Skull Kid's hands curled tightly over the mask. He looked up into Ganon's face and nodded. "I will do as you say."