Deku Link stands before the towering Clock Tower, tense. There is no one else in the street, a deep contrast to the spectacle that had greeted Deku Link when he first came to Clock Town. But he is not interested in that fact. The old man had told him back at the inn that it would take two more days for the clock tower to open at midnight. Firecrackers would be fired, and a wooden block above the door would go up to where that thieving Skull Kid is. This is it. He has been waiting a full three days for the chance to take the ocarina and mask back. Three days has been too long a wait to return to human form…
"Alright, Link!" Tatl bops Link on the head. "This is it! Tonight is the night the Skull Kid falls before us and I reunite with my brother!" After Deku Link spends the next several seconds giving her a quizzical stare, Tatl lowers close to the ground. "Sorry I haven't been talking for the past while." she says. It's just...I'm really nervous about going up there." Deku Link gives a firm nod of understanding before turning his attention back to the clock.
Ten minutes pass before the clock strikes twelve. No fireworks come, but the wooden block above the door drops anyway, as does the one behind it. A staircase is revealed in no time. The creaking of the tower echoes through the area as the clock face mechanically shifts upward, then falls back as the top half of the tower does. But…
"The staircase is too high up!" Tatl cries out. And it is true. Deku Link would have to be ten feet tall to grab the edge of the staircase to pull himself up and upon it. As the transformed boy puts his paw to his head, he can feel the yellow leaves that now make up his hair.
Inspiration strikes him. He yanks out one of the leaves, ignoring the twinge of pain it causes him. Grabbing the ends with both hands, Deku Link pulls to test the strength. It should do. He extends the leaf to Tatl with one hand. "Hold this and lift me up."
"What?!" The fairy cries out. "You heard me." replies Deku Link. "I can't get up there myself and you can't deal with the Skull Kid on your own." He patiently keeps his arm outstretched until Tatl sighs and concedes to grasp the leaf with her tiny hands.
"Ungh...arh...ugh...UMPH!" With desperate slowness, the fairy pulls Deku Link up the side of the tower by the leaf. The boy can sense that Tatl is quickly running out of strength, and thus he quips, "Just a little more time and you can reunite with your brother!" Tatl cannot speak to indicate that she is motivated by this statement, but she does finally manage to bring Deku Link up to staircase.
After his feet have been planted on the first step, Deku Link grabs the tired Tatl and runs up the stairs. It is not long before he is standing directly on the horizontally-placed great clock face.
Deku Link turns his head from left to right, and then up. A flash of red and yellow, catches his eye; the Skull Kid is hovering ten feet above the clock face. Another twenty feet up is the giant moon, it's eyes and grimace as menacing as ever.
The Skull Kid turns around in midair, staring down upon Deku Link through his purple mask. He does not speak, but a flash of purple light darts out from behind him. It is none other than Tatl's dear brother, Tael. "SIS!" He cries out.
Her energy fully rejuvenated, Tatl jumps out of Deku Link's hand. "Tael!" she shouts back. "Skull Kid, you too! It's taken us three days to find you two! Can we stop playing now? Say, Skull Kid, what's say we return that mask-"
"Where is my ocarina?!" Deku Link shouts, interrupting Tatl. The Skull Kid reaches into his pocket and pulls the blue ocarina out. He mockingly waves it around, and Deku Link shouts once more, "Where is my horse?!"
Skull Kid looks down upon his body, then replies, "You can see me flying, right?" He fishes through his clothing once more, then throws something down at Deku Link's feet. It is a brown furry stump. At one end is a shiny black hoof, and a trickle of blood is leaking through the other end. It is a disembodied horse leg. "There was no point of riding something like that," Skull Kid cackles, "So I did us all a favor and got rid of it!
"HE'S INSANE!" cries Tael. For her part, Tatl remains floating in midair. She could tell off the Skull Kid. She could ask why he has done this. She could curse at him. But she has been shocked into silence.
For his part, Deku Link looks from the leg to the Skull Kid, then back to the leg, eerily calm. Then he raises his head once more and he begins to rapidly spit Deku Nuts from his snout.
"Ow! Ack! Stop that!" Skull Kid is struck in the arms, torso, legs, and mask repeatedly. The ocarina drops from his hand and lands directly on the clock. As soon as this happens, the Skull Kid becomes rigid and waves his hand. The last Deku Nut stops in midair, then falls as the ocarina had. A quiet force resonates from behind the Skull Kid's mask. "No more games."
He snaps his fingers, and the scowling moon suddenly flashes yellow and then orange before emitting a strong and steady red light. Deku Link can see now that the moon is coming closer.
"I'LL CRUSH YOU ALL!" The Skull Kid shrieks. A desperate Tael slams himself into the imp's mask. "What is wrong with you?!" The Skull Kid is silent for only one moment before he smacks the purple fairy away. The moon draws closer still.
Before Tatl can scream for her brother and fly up to the Skull Kid, Deku Link grabs her and runs under the shrieking and cackling the Skull Kid. He has to act now. He grabs the ocarina with his free hand and shoves it to his snout.
He no longer has a human mouth, but his Deku breath is good enough. The notes are swiftly played; the Song of Time is completed.
Everything around Deku Link and Tatl goes white.