Chapter One: Ganon and the Mask
He had done it. Again. Ganondorf, self-proclaimed King of Darkness, had escaped his latest imprisonment. Of course, this was to be expected from a man like Ganondorf, who was terrible at staying dead. But what was NOT expected was how quickly it had occurred. Then again, he had been sealed by the Four Sword, which in all fairness was nowhere near as powerful as the Master Sword. Ganon's desire for vengeance was greater than ever, but he understood that making himself known now would only create problems for him, problems he was unfit to deal with at this time. For the first few weeks since his return, he had quietly built a hidden stronghold in the shadows of Death Mountain away from prying eyes and was now researching possible methods of defeating his accursed nemesis, Link.
The tall, muscular man sat in his personal chambers, reading several books he had stolen from the Hyrule Town library during the night when no one was around. He had already gone through two spellbooks and found nothing he didn't know already or could put to good use. He irritably ran his fingers through his fiery red hair as he tossed the third book aside. Stupid Hylians, he thought. With such simple spells like these, how have they even managed to survive all these years? Bah! Useless junk!
He picked up the last book and read the cover. Magical Artifacts of the Hylian Age, Ganondorf read. Perhaps this will yield better results.
He flipped through the pages, glancing at various pictures of amulets and stones. Ganondorf was getting frustrated as he neared the end of the book. Just as he was about to scream with rage and throw the book at the wall, something caught his eye. Ganondorf stared at the picture on the page. It was some kind of mask. It was heart-shaped, with two spikes on top and four running along each side. It was mostly red and purple, with various orange, yellow, and white markings adorning its face. But the thing that Ganondorf noticed first was the eyes. The eyes took up a sizeable portion of the mask, and were a fierce orange and yellow. They looked full of power and menace. Intrigued, Ganondorf began reading the inscription detailing the strange mask.
Majora's Mask was an item capable of immense destruction. Inhabited by the spirit of the demon-like god of chaos and destruction, Majora, it was created by a race of dark magic-wielding people. With the help of the Golden Goddesses, Majora was sealed within the mask. However, Majora was able to twist his prison into a new weapon for himself when the tribe began using the mask for hexing rituals. Eventually its destructive power grew out of control, and the tribe sealed away the mask in fear. Centuries later, a mask salesman found the mask, which was soon stolen from him by an imp. The mask almost managed to destroy the world using the imp as a pawn but was defeated by the original Hero of Time. The salesman reclaimed the mask but soon found that Majora was still residing within the mask, but had been forced into dormancy, and so he hid it in an unknown location. It is believed that the salesman's descendants are aware of where the mask is located, but they are unwilling to reveal this information.
A thin smile crept across the dark man's lips as he finished reading the inscription. "Yes," he whispered to himself. "This is most promising. I will reawaken this Majora's spirit and use it as my own personal weapon! Surely this thing will not be able to overpower the mind of the Wielder of the Triforce of Power! With its power at my command, all of Hyrule shall finally be mine!"
Ganondorf laughed as he exited his room. He passed several of his minions in the halls, smirking as they flinched from being touched by his cape. He had eschewed his armor for now in favor of his traditional Gerudo garb, which did not make the easily noticeable clanking noises his armor did. He stepped out of his fortress and gazed at the moon as it slowly made its way towards the horizon. He then disappeared in a cloud of dark magic.
He reappeared just outside Hyrule Town, just out of sight of the guards standing outside the city gates. Using a combination of his magic and the thieving skills he had learned from his people, he managed to sneak past the guards and enter the city. He carefully maneuvered through the alleys and shadows as he searched the town for the mask shop. Eventually he came across it in the southwestern section of Hyrule Town. The dark king looked around to make sure no one was nearby, and then teleported inside the locked building and quickly found a place to hide. Now all he had to do was wait for the shopkeeper to arrive.
Hours passed. The sun rose over the mountains, and people began to wake up from the night's slumber. The stores began opening one by one, until finally the mask salesman unlocked the door to his shop and changed the closed sign to open. The man whistled a cheerful tune as he neared Ganondorf's hiding place. Once the man was close enough, Ganondorf sprang out of his hiding place and grabbed the man by the collar and put his other hand over the man's mouth to stifle his yelp of surprise. "All right, salesman," Ganondorf hissed. "I know you are aware of the location of the item called Majora's Mask. Tell me where it is hidden if you value your life."
Ganondorf was uncertain whether the color left the salesman's face because he realized who he was talking to or because of the mention of the terrible mask. "Y-you…you can't have the Heart of Darkness! The disaster you would cause…it would be cataclysmic!"
"Do you truly believe I, Ganondorf, Holder of the Triforce of Power, would not be able to control the power of Majora's Mask? You fool! You underestimate my abilities!"
"You underestimate Majora's!" the salesman retorted despite his fear. "His insanity and cruelty know no limits! He kills just to see the blood! He will destroy you, Ganon! He's not interested in ultimate power or riches or revenge. He's only interested in inflicting pain to others. It's all a big joke to him! He'll toy with your mind, push you over the edge, and then he'll ruin everything you've worked so hard for!"
Ganondorf paid little heed to the man's words, for he was arrogant and overconfident in his abilities. That was before he heard the man speak again. "I would rather live under your rule than die under Majora's."
"How heartwarming," Ganondorf answered after a moment. "But flattery shall get you nowhere, mask-seller. I want that mask! Tell me where it is hidden, or I'll destroy every mask in this store, and you along with it!"
"All right!" the salesman conceded. "I'll…I'll tell you where…but you must first promise me one thing…"
"Me? Make promises to someone like you?"
"Please, Ganon! If you wish to remain ruler of Hyrule, you must heed this advice!"
Ganondorf sighed. "Very well. What is it?"
"When you take over Hyrule, I want you to destroy that mask. If you can. I don't know if it's possible, but…do whatever you can to ensure it can never be used again."
"I'll consider it. Now tell me where it is."
Knowing this was the best he was going to get from the King of Darkness, he said, "It's in the Lost Woods, under the care of the Skull Kids. That is their penance for one of their own stealing Majora's Mask from my great-great-grandfather. Tell them the Happy Mask Salesman sent you to claim the mask. They will give it to you after you play a game with the one who stole it from my ancestor. There is no other way to persuade them."
"I see," Ganondorf muttered. "Well, since I can't have you tell everyone I'm back…"
Before the salesman could protest, Ganondorf unsheathed a Gerudo dagger and plunged it through the man's back into his heart, killing him instantly. He gently laid the body behind the counter where it wouldn't be easily noticed. Now, I'll have to make this look like a simple robbery gone wrong so no one will get suspicious, Ganondorf thought, looking around. Suddenly he noticed the register where the man's rupees were kept. Hmm, this man won't be needing his rupees anymore….
Ganondorf casually went over to the register and emptied it of its contents, putting the rupees in a pouch at his side. "Now to find that mask," he muttered as he teleported away.
