The Legend of Zelda: Time Gate
Chapter 7: Back in Termina
Majora's Mask floats in front of me, its looming, glowing yellow eyes staring at me.
I'm weak, and I don't know how much longer I can fight. Blood runs down the side of my face, and a wound shoots right through my chest.
I have no choice.
I have to release my new power.
I pull out the cursed Fierce Deity's Mask, and I place it on my face. I scream, as the power surges through my body, and I begin to change. My hair changes to a whitish-silver color, and red and blue markings appear on my forehead and jawline. I become taller, like I'm an adult again, and my sword is replaced with an evil blue sword, its metal twisted around to the end of a sharp point. My green tunic changes to a black tunic with armor, and a moon and triangle mark appears on the breastplate. My leggings turn black, and I lose my shield. I fall to the floor in pain.
The Mask floats around my motionless body, the boss remains following it, and then I lift myself from the floor. I hold my sword towards the mask as he flies around me, and as he does, I roll around him and attack him on the backside. The mask immediately falls to the ground.
I've won.
Or have I?
Majora's Mask lifts itself up from the floor, its body weak, and from the last of its strength, summons arms, legs, and an extra eyeball from the top rim. Ugh, creepy. The new body immediately takes off, running around the area in a blur. I can't tell where it is, it's moving too fast. I close my eyes, stand still, put my sword away, and focus. I can see the vital signs of the mask, the blurry red lines moving everywhere. But then I notice its pattern, how it slows down to mock me every few seconds. When it slows down again, I pull out my sword and immediately lunge at the creature. It doesn't go down in one hit this time, but it was getting pretty weak. I attempt to read his vital signs again, and then when it slows down, I attack again.
The creature falls to the ground, but then it gets back up, its muscles in its arms and legs growing thicker. From the eyeball on the top rim of the mask, a head grows out, its eyes evil and cruel. Long whips protude from its arms.
The battle still isn't over.
It snaps one of its whips at me, grabbing my leg and pulling me down to the floor. My sword flies from my hand and lands on the other side of the room. I'm stuck, unable to free myself from the monster's grasp. But I start to feel another power surging inside of me, and I immediately kick the monster in the face with my other leg. The monster recoils in pain, and I reach my hand out to my sword, but it's too far for me to get there in time. I focus my energy on my hand and the sword at the same time, and then the blade disappears and appears in my hand. I take the sword and stab the monster with it, and it falls backwards.
It gets back up again, and gives out a loud scream.
This was my last chance.
I focus my energy to my blade, and it begins to glow white and blue. I swing the sword through the air, sending a blue shockwave towards Majora's Mask. The wave drives the monster into the wall. It attempts to get back up, but it's too weak, and as it walks towards me, it falls forward, dies, and disappears into darkness.
Finally. I've won the battle.
I look at the palm of my left hand, wondering where all that power came from. I look at the Triforce, and it's glowing brightly. I smile, and remove the mask from my face.
But there's something else here.
Something evil.
A creature that has a heart of darkness.
But he looks like me.
He takes his blade and drives it through my body.
I screamed, and bolted out of bed. I held my face in my hands, feeling the sweat run down my forehead. That was the worst dream I could ever have. It was ten times worse than the dreams I had in the past three years. The bedroom light immediately turned on, and Uzuki and Shuto walked in.
"Link!" Uzuki cried, and ran towards me. "Link, are you all right?"
I took a deep breath. "Y-Yeah, I'm fine," I whimpered. Shuto brought me a glass of water. I drank all of it in a single sip.
"What happened?" Shuto asked.
"I just had a nightmare."
"Must have been some nightmare to make you scream like that."
"Do you want to talk about it?" Uzuki asked.
"No, I'm fine, it was just a nightmare. Go back to sleep, I'll be fine."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah, I'm sure. What time is it anyways?"
"It's four thirty in the morning," Shuto replied.
"Really? Sorry for waking you two up."
"Nah, it's fine!" Uzuki giggled. "I was just about to head out for morning training anyways!"
"At four in the morning?"
"Sure! I gotta keep my defense up! Can't go losing in a battle!"
"Okay. Good night guys," I said, and rolled myself back into my blankets. The light turned off, and the door closed
The rest of my dreams were invaded by Shadow Me.
When I woke up, any sunlight that was in the Dark Realm streamed through my window, followed by bits of floating twilight. I sat up in my bed and looked at my bedside table. My Time Gate was resting on the wood, with the pen and the ink. A small note was left next to it.
Don't forget to write in your Time Gate! After you've finished writing, come to the living room so we can all explain the Dark Realm to you.
Uzuki
I smiled and opened the diary, and began to write. I wrote about how I ended up in the Dark Realm, and the guidelines to how a human became a Reaper. I also wrote a bit about Kon, and made a bit of info about my dream. Then I drew a sketch of what my Fierce Deity Form looked like.
When I finished drawing, I realized that the Deity actually somewhat scared me.
His eyes were thin and cruel, and his face was terrifying.
I didn't want to meet this creature again.
I closed my Time Gate and put it back into my bag. I pulled the quilted blanket off the bed, stood up, and put the blanket back. I had fallen asleep in my robe the previous night. I walked out to the living room to see Uzuki drinking a cup of coffee, and Yashiro eating quesadilla chips. Shuto was sitting in one of the armchairs, playing a long silver flute with a red ribbon attached to the end. Mitsuhiro was just sitting there, making no noise. When I entered the room, everyone stopped what they were doing and stared at me.
"Good morning Link," Shuto said, pulling himself away from his flute. "How was your sleep?"
"It was good," I lied.
Uzuki raised her eyebrow at me. "Really? Are you sure?"
"Yeah, I'm sure."
"Because that's not what your aura is telling me."
"What?" I asked, confused with her words.
"Come sit down, we'll give you a little bit more information about us. But we have to make it quick, I still have to pick Kon up from Clock Town."
I sat down on the couch. Uzuki handed me a cup with hot chocolate inside. It smelled so good, its warm aroma instantly floating up to my nose. Uzuki slowly sipped her coffee. She made a grossed out face.
"Ugh, it tastes as gross as it usually does," she complained.
"Here, try this," Yashiro said, and dropped four sugar cubes into the coffee. She stirred it up with a spoon. "That should be sweet enough, right?"
"Thanks, Yashiro-chan." Uzuki took another sip, smiled and set the cup on the coffee table. "Now, where should we start?"
"How about we talk about our enhanced abilities?" Shuto asked."Link is willing to risk his lives for us. I think we can trust him."
"Alright, I'll tell him about us and our abilities," Uzuki sighed. "In our little group, we all fight with different styles. Shuto fights with sound and his hands. Yashiro fights with her hands and two special weapons: her Avenger Blade, and her kunai gun. A kunai is a special throwing knife, usually used by ninjas and assassins. It's pretty much the same thing, but attached to a gun. I fight with a blossom scythe, and I know a bit of martial arts too, and I specialize in ninja tools, like shurikens, or ninja stars."
"What about Mitsuhiro?" I interrupted.
Uzuki looked at Mitsuhiro, who was gazing out the window.
"Go ahead," he replied. Uzuki mouthed some words at him. I was sure she said "thank you".
"Mitsuhiro fights with his hands, a katana, and another special weapon: a huge piercing blade with several holes and a clock read with Roman numerals attached to the side. This weapon is called the Time Distorter. If he pierces someone's body with it, he can take away time from that person's remaining life span. There are only a few left in the world, and they are only given to those blessed with the ability to control time. You should have one too, Link."
"No, I don't have one. The only thing I have that can control time is my Ocarina of Time."
"That's what we call a Time Distorter. But yours is used to travel to the past and future. It's different from Mitsuhiro's weapon." Uzuki stretched her arms. "Well, that's pretty much it about our fighting styles. And we already know that your only style is sword-fighting."
Mitsuhiro snickered in disgust. "Yeah, look where that's got him." He smirked.
"Mitsuhiro!" Shuto yelled. "They only practice sword-fighting in Hyrule! Martiel arts aren't practiced! You can't blame him for something he can't learn!"
"That's beside the point," Uzuki interrupted, breaking the battle between Shuto and Mitsuhiro. "Link, is there anything else you wish to know? We can tell you anything, with exceptions."
"Let's see," I said, trying to think of any other question for them. "Because you guys are in the Dark Realm, does that mean you control darkness?"
"That's right," Mitsuhiro replied coldly. "The Goddesses control light, as well as the people chosen by the Triforce, and we stand on the other side of the mirror, controlling the darkness of the world. We keep the darkness from taking over your world, and you keep the light from taking over ours. That's why we have a little bit of light streaming through our clouds. We still need a portion of light to survive, like Hyrule needs twilight. The twilight in Hyrule is very thin, and usually appears as shadows at night. But when the balance tips and goes out of control, the twilight forms barriers in your world, separating you from the darkness. Whoever is trapped in these barriers are sure to disappear as spirits."
"So, what would happen if the balance tilted the other way, if the light overtook this world?"
Mitsuhiro remained silent for a moment. "If light was to come here... well, I don't think anyone knows what will happen. An incident like that has never occured before. I'm guessing this world would crumble into dust. We may never know."
"If light took over this world... I'm guessing that it would be the same as twilight in Hyrule. Barriers of light."
"Good prediction."
I stood up from the couch and looked at Uzuki. "Can you guys send me back to Termina now?"
"Can't," Mitsuhiro said coldly, interrupting Uzuki as she was about to answer.
"What?" Uzuki yelled. "But we have to send him there! It's where he belongs!"
"Not anymore. Jun nearly attacked him while he was out in the forest, but you and Yashiro stopped him. It's obvious that he knows Link's whereabouts now. If he heads back to Clock Town, Jun will just destroy the entire place to get him. We have to send him somewhere else."
"But where?" Yashiro asked. "You're not possibly thinking of sending him to Hyrule! That'll be the first place they'll look!"
"No, it's not. I can tell what their motives are. They'll look for Link when he's in small towns. If he was in a place like Hyrule, a land blessed in light, Jun, Iwata and the rest of their cronies would be weakened, and would have to lay low here, in the Dark Realm. Reapers have to use their old human bodies if they remain in the light world too long, and then they lose their powers."
"Sounds painful," I muttered back. "By the way, Uzuki, you said you were going out for morning training a few hours ago. At four in the morning! What were you doing?"
"Oh, you know, shuriken throwing, hitting targets with my feet, practicing with my scythe. You know, training. When Shuto and I were talking to you this morning, Yashiro and Mitsuhiro were already outside throwing shurikens at each other."
"That seems dangerous." I shuddered.
"We're Reapers, we're already dead! It doesn't make much difference!" Uzuki laughed. Her laugh was followed by an immediate frown. She flicked her gaze to Mitsuhiro. "Wait, what about Kon? I should be picking him up by now! We have to get him back here before we drop Link in Hyrule!"
"Wait a minute, hold on!" I yelled. "What if I don't want to go back to Hyrule? What if I want to stay in Termina, with Byrne, and the Skull Kid?"
"Link, maybe Princess Zelda can help you again, like last time?" Uzuki asked. "She's still young, but maybe you two can work together to help us stop the darkness."
"So what do you want me to tell Zelda? 'I'm back from Termina, I just met these creatures of darkness, I want to help them stop the darkness.'? That doesn't sound right at all!"
"She'll understand, trust me. And maybe, if you come back someday, we can teach you some martial arts and shuriken throwing!"
"There's no doubt that Link will be coming back," Mitsuhiro grumbled. "If he's going to be working with us, then we're going to be seeing each other often."
"Are you alright with going back to Hyrule, Link?" Shuto asked. He was holding a small black kitten. Where did it come from?
"Yeah, I guess."
"Then I guess I'll drop you off," Uzuki said softly, and lowered her head. She walked to the first hallway and left the building.
"Guess this is goodbye for now, huh, Shuto?" I asked him.
"I guess so."
"I'll see you later, Yashiro."
"Don't get into any trouble! Or you'll pay dearly!" She held up her fist.
I smiled at her, and then looked at Mitsuhiro, who was still gazing out the window.
"See you, Mitsuhiro."
"Whatever," he mumbled, and left for his room.
I sighed and grabbed my bag, and then I left the house, entering the immense twilight again.
I think I was actually starting to like this place...
A Very Short Interlude
"Uzuki, why are we here?" Link asked the Reaper.
"We have to pick up Kon. Keep that hood over your face so that no one recognizes you. I don't want people to think there are two Links."
"Ugh, fine." I pulled the heavy hood over my head, and pulled up the zipper so that no one could see my face without seeing shadows.
We walked the streets for a few minutes, until Uzuki stopped.
"Um, where is Byrne's shop exactly?" she asked.
"What? The way you were walking around, acting so confident, I figured you knew!"
"Just tell me where it is! I don't need you to insult me!"
"Fine. It's in East Clock Town, the first building on the right."
Uzuki made a left turn, and we entered the eastern end of Clock Town. She looked at the first store to the right, and then entered the building.
We were shocked to see Kon hanging off the ceiling by his ankle.
Uzuki poked him, and he snapped his eyes open.
"What happened to you?" she asked the puppet.
He remained silent.
"Kon?" I asked.
"Please cut me down," he replied.
