I can inform you that I have gone ahead and massively rewritten the chapter called 'The Rise of Prince Vaati', and that chapter has received a greater change than any of the other chapters I've rewritten. I mean there are entire sections of things going on there that simply wasn't there before.

For example I had a cameo of the four links, a deeper look into Vaati's past, and the first ever appearance of Zelda's mother. Also, I wasn't really that proud of how I made Ganon in that chapter, so I hope I made him more justice now.

So I definitively recommend you read that chapter, but just a warning: it is a bit long, even for my standards.

Now, let's get on with the story…

Chapter 35 the Magician's Secrets

Zelda, Aveil and Ilia all woke up to the same fanfare-like music booming in their ears.

They noticed that they were sitting in a very colourful room decorated with many dark red curtains, green carpet and what appeared to be neon lamps.

All three of them soon became aware that they were sitting in a chair each, with a long table just in front of them. Also, none of them were wearing their winter outfits anymore.

After getting her bearings together, Aveil asked "What happened? Where are we?"

Ilia groggily answered "I remember walking through that door…then…I can't remember anything after that."

Zelda concurred "Me neither."

Aveil then decided to ask a very obvious question "Where is the music coming from?"

The Trickster's voice echoed throughout the room as he answered "I turned it on to get you girls to wake up before the century is over, hehihihihiheheheh!"

Zelda declared "Show yourself!"

A door in front of the trio opened to reveal the mysterious magician in person. Though this time, he looked very different.

He was now wearing a black suit with a red shirt underneath and with a purple tie at his neck. He still kept the blue gloves, but now he was wearing a top hat instead of his usual hat, although his trademark Ace of Diamonds was strapped to the purple band on his hat rather than hanging down from it.

Most interesting though was that he was no longer wearing his red bandanna, thus revealing his face for the first time.

His face consisted entirely of black smoke with a green glowing smiley mouth as well as a pair of similarly glowing green eyes. It was now clear that he was anything but human.

The Trickster took out what looked like a remote control out of his pocket and pressed a button, thus changing the music from the booming fanfare to a slightly calmer one.

"Welcome ladies, to…THE GREATEST MAGIC SHOW OF YOUR LIVES!"

Aveil winced at how unnecessarily loud he was being and commented "Yeah, we get it. No need to stop using your indoor voice."

"MY INDOOR VOICE?! Are you saying that because we're indoors?"

"No, because it sounds like you are trying to make yourself heard to deaf people."

"Hey, I'm just using my announcer voice. It's not my fault I'm mentally deranged enough to not even know what I'm doing half the time."

Ilia held up her hand and asked "Hang on a minute, did you just admit that you're insane?"

"Yes I did, something wrong with that?"

"Shouldn't there be?"

"Well, if I am insane, then what's the point in not admitting it? Admitting is the first step to acceptance, you know?"

The Trickster walked over to their table and put down his hands on it before he calmly suggested "Why don't we skip the pleasantries and get this party started?"

Zelda cautiously answered "Depends on the party…"

"Hehe, what party indeed?"

Then he turned around and made some distance between him and them before informing "I was hoping you three would be the ones to enter, as I have some games that are just perfect for you all lined up."

Zelda declared "We don't have time for this, don't you realise that the world might get destroyed if Majora isn't stopped?"

"No…because you are going to stop it. That is why I brought you here, to destroy that cursed mask once and for all."

Zelda raised an eyebrow and questioned "You did?"

"This has all been an elaborate scheme to rid myself of the debt I have with Dethl….and not have the world destroyed. It's just that…I simply can't make it easy for you. You see, I get dizzy if I walk in a straight line, so by my own admission, I like to make every damn thing I do as elaborate and overcomplicated as possible. Which includes making you waste precious time playing stupid games for absolutely no reason at all…I am just that crazy."

Aveil lost her patience and declared "I already told you I won't be a part of your games!"

But when she tried to get up from her chair and get creative with her blades, she noticed that…she simply couldn't. She simply could not make her body stand up, she seemed to be glued to the chair by some kind of magic.

"What the…what is this?!"

The Trickster put his hands on his hips and leaned forward teasingly before he asked "Having trouble standing up?"

"What did you do to me!? Magic?"

"No, hypnotism, the same way I made you forget what happened the last two hours. I did take some classes in mentalism and hypnotism back when I was still alive."

Zelda noticed something off in that statement and her mind came up with a solution.

"You're a ghost, aren't you?"

The magician's green eyes widened at her conclusion and looked at her curiously before revealing "Well…I am. I have been dead for 50 years in fact. But my spirit survived in the netherworld between dimensions as I floated between all the realities that could potentially exist. I saw a thousand different worlds and a thousand different stories unfold. I saw worlds where people travelled between the stars by walking through blue gates, I saw worlds where plumbers jumped on angry mushrooms and where strange police boxes appeared out of thin air and evil trash bins shouted 'Exterminate'. But most interesting of all was a world where everything that is happening now is written by some 20 year old Swedish kid calling himself Flufux on the internet."

Flufux: Hey, don't involve me in this!

Only the Trickster could hear the mysterious voice that came out of nowhere, and he immediately answered "It's your fault I can break the fourth wall, you made me!"

Flufux: Mention me directly again and I will remove your fourth wall breaking licence!

"Hey that's not fair! I spent a fortune paying for that, and it's not like Deadpool or Psycho Mantis ever needed one."

Flufux: Well…Banjo and Kazooie and those people from Kid Icarus actually did pay for those.

(Kid Icarus) Hades: As if I would bother…

Flufux: Just go home Hades, just go home. Now stop fooling around Trickster and get this story moving, it's not like the readers have all day.

"Fine, oh great visionary one…"

Zelda, Aveil and Ilia just looked at the scene in confusion while Ilia quietly asked "Who is he talking to?"

Zelda just shook her head and answered "I have no idea…"

The Trickster then turned back to the people in the room and shrugged before saying "Sorry about that, some legal issues with my supervisor. Anyway, where was I? Oh that's right…well after traveling through the multiverse for 30 years I finally came to this dimension where I made a deal with Dethl that would give me the ability to actually…you know? Do stuff. While the prize was that I had to reawaken the Mask of Misery, in other words: Majora's Mask. Though I didn't really want Majora to destroy the world when I just got used to it, so I figured that I could organise a plan to deal with the damn thing after fulfilling my end of the bargain and awaken the mask. I brought you here to destroy the mask before Dethl can get a chance to use it for evil."

"But what does Dethl want with Majora?"

"Plot twist! Majora was created from the nightmares of Dethl, and now, she wants them back under her control. They are actually the same kind of beings: living nightmares. but Majora only cares about making as many people miserable as possible and me to be its puppet. But they are deluding themselves; I can and will out-gambit anyone, even Cthulhu."

Aveil rolled her eyes at his obvious overconfidence and suggested "Then why can't you just take us to the evil mask thing already?! I mean there is a giant moon that will crash into this place if we wait around here all day."

A smile formed on the Trickster's face as he declared "Oh, not yet…we still have some games to play. Well, why don't we get started already!?"

Then he snapped his fingers and all the three 'participants' were instantly sent to different rooms.

Zelda ended up in a room with a giant screen positioned in front of her with the Trickster in his usual attire with the big hat and trenchcoat and not the one with the top hat standing right next to it.

He explained "Now Princess, let's begin this lovely game that I like to call the quiz of the Legend of Zelda timeline. All you need to do is to answer all the questions and not fail three times or more."

Ilia was sent into a room with an already prepared chess table in front of her with…also the Trickster sitting in the chair on the other side of it.

That Trickster asked "Ready to begin a new game of chess?"

Aveil ended up in yet another room where she was apparently seated at a poker table along with EIGHT separate Tricksters all acting as her opponents.

One of them explained "Let's put those gambling tricks to good use, I hear they're quite popular with Gerudos these days."

All three women simultaneous groaned "You've got to be kidding me!"

In Zelda's room, the Trickster began "Alright, question number one: How many Princess Zeldas have there been? And I'm not asking how many Hyrulean Princesses, I'm asking how many Zeldas."

When he asked, a picture of a Hyrulean princess was shown.

Zelda thought about the question and asked "Does that include me?"

"Of course."

Zelda then remembered when Ozshen told her about her mother, Queen Zelda XIV, so that would mean…

"15."

"Very good, now: What species was the dreaded Usurper King Zant?" he asked while the screen showed a depiction of the infamous fiend.

"Wasn't he…a…what where they called? Twili?"

"Correct, now onto the next question…"

In Ilia's room, the Trickster urged "Go on, make the first move. You have the white pieces, and they always go first. That actually sounds slightly racist when you think about it."

Ilia was slightly hesitant as she really didn't expect to be thrown into a chess match of all things. She was an experienced chess player, especially considering the fact that she often played against Zelda. However, she had never ever beaten her in that game, but no one else had ever done that either.

'There was this one time though I held Zelda to a fire, I mean she was almost about to lose. And if I had simply not moved that rook to that particular spot, there would be no way for Zelda to have beaten me. So I can count that as a victory. And if I almost beat someone who apparently had something called a Triforce of Wisdom, then I can win this thing.'

With her confidence gathered, she picked up a pawn and moved it one step forward. The Trickster probably (most of his face was covered after all) grinned at gestureand did the same.

Aveil observed the full table of Tricksters at the poker table. She was confused as to why there was more than one of him, if they were all really the same person and if they were all going to gang up on her to make her lose the game.

'Since when did my life get so weird? Anyway, this is poker, maybe not my favourite game, but I am used to gambling. Heh, I actually owe half the fortune I had to gambling. Not directly of course, but I did win a very good ship I used to plunder quite a sizable bounty. And if this guy, or rather, guys, aren't going to play fair, then neither will I. I'm a pirate after all.'

She put on her best poker face and smugly asked "So…what are we betting?"

One of the Tricksters snapped his fingers and suddenly an equal amount of chips for each player spontaneously appeared in the table while another magician explained "The one that ends up with the most of these by the end…that one wins."

"In that case, what are we waiting for?"

A Trickster picked up a deck of cards from his sleeve and started to deal them out across the table.

Aveil picked up her cards and used her well-trained poker face to conceal how disappointed she was at what she had in hand.

She then had an idea and said "I hope you don't expect a pirate to play by the rules..."

All the Tricksters knew what she meant and slightly prepared for their well prepared cheats.

The Trickster with the top hat observed the three different games from another room with a massive screen showing him what was going on.

"It appears the games are on, hehihihihihhehehehe!"

Half-an hour after the three women started their games, Zelda was down to the very last question. She had answered every one correctly aside from two that she slipped up on, which meant that if she made another mistake, she would lose.

The Trickster in her room changed so the screen showed a picture of the swamps of Darkwood.

Then he asked "Who made the skies above Darkwood become shrouded in an eternal night, who is it that controls the darkness?"

Zelda thought about this question in her head.

'Darkwood, that swamp filled with that darkness. I could feel that there was something wrong with that place, it felt wrong, like it was cursed. No, it wasn't really cursed, it was a presence. Something was oozing that night onto the swamp just by being there. I have heard of this before, yes, I hear the words: 'The sun shall never rise where Mother Night treads, lest the wrath of the Goddess of Darkness be cast upon the world upon she hates.' I don't know where these words come from, but it feels like I have always known them. Well, at least I have my answer.'

"The correct answer is: the Goddess of Darkness."

The Trickster's reaction to the answer was not what she suspected as he gasped out "WHAT!?"

"Was I wrong?"

"Probably not, it's just that…I didn't even know the answer to that question. So that means that the Goddess of Darkness herself is resting in the very place I started my market. And she knew I would be conspicuous, she played me for a fool. She used my market as a distraction to keep suspicion away from her domain."

"Do you know who she is?"

"Maybe I do, maybe I don't. But the demons whisper about her return, the fortune tellers all predict that she will once again descend to this land again."

"So what should-"

Before she could finish that sentence, the Trickster shouted "Oh, you completed the quiz, here you go!"

And within the blink of an eye, Zelda was no longer in the room.

Ilia meanwhile was in a very heated moment in her chess match with another Trickster.

They were currently in a standoff and Ilia was stuck in a situation that seemed very familiar to her. It was her turn and she knew that this move right here and now was what was going to decide the fate of the whole game.

'One wrong move and I lose, one right move and I win. I can take his king immediately if I move my queen over there…but that would leave my own king undefended.'

The Trickster taunted "This is where things get interesting isn't it? Those silly two choices, one good…and one bad. Two opponents…fighting, only one can win. Tick tock, tick tock, the moon get's cloooooooser…"

"Against a demonic mask that is powerful and evil enough to pull the moon from the sky, what good could I possibly accomplish? So as far I'm concerned, I can wait for as long as I want, Zelda and Aveil should be able to do this without me."

"Do you know the purpose of the magician's assistant?"

"I guess…she distracts the audience while the magician does the trick."

"WRONG! That is so right, but so wrong at the same time. It's the magician that is the distraction, it's the assistant that does the real trick. And the truth is…you're the only one alive that can defeat Majora."

"What are you talking about?"

"Majora is a living nightmare…which makes it barely anything more than a figment of the imagination. You may not have much strength or skill in these matters, but you are the bravest soul left in existence, or so I'm told. Aveil, Ozshen and probably even Zelda aren't afraid of anything because they take comfort in their own abilities…while you on the other hand…don't. Yet you still chose to come all the way here. Why? Because you are willing to do anything to save those you care about."

"How do you even know all this information about me?"

"A magician never reveals his secrets…I mean it's not like I planned this out 20 years ago and used the collective power of eight of the best fortune tellers in the world to predict which people may play a huge role sometime in the future of this world. And I definitively didn't keep tabs on those specific people for all these years to figure out their angles. I mean if I did that, then I would seem like some kind of weirdo, right?"

Ilia just stared at the ghostly magician for a few moments in disbelief at what he was implying by that.

But the Trickster simply shrugged and said "But the point is, since Majora is at its core a purely psychological foe. A courageous mind such as yours would be the perfect weapon to wield against it. Which is why you are the most effective-"

He stopped himself when he noticed that Ilia had made a move on the chess table. He looked down and saw that she had moved her bishop instead of her queen to the very spot she planned to move her queen, thus keeping her most precious piece where it was.

When he looked back at her, she had only one word for him, and that was "Checkmate."

"So you took my advice and used the magician's assistant instead of putting your distraction in jeopardy, clever."

He then snapped his fingers and Ilia disappeared from the room in a flash.

At Aveil's poker table, the game was starting to get serious.

The Tricksters had made everything in their power to make it as difficult as possible. While Aveil herself had bluffed and played the rules to accumulate as many chips as she could.

However, the Tricksters had the advantage every step of the way, and she was barely catching up to them.

One of them taunted "It seems you are a little off your game, fearsome Gerudo. I expected more from how big you talked before."

Aveil let out a laugh that was so unexpected that even the Tricksters flinched at it.

"HahahahahahahHAA! Oh, I was just bluffing this entire time. And this is by far the most pathetic attempt to cheat your way to humiliate me."

She then grabbed one of the Tricksters in the arm and forcefully pulled out an Ace of Spades from his sleeve.

She looked back at the others and taunted "Didn't your mother ever tell you to not cheat your way at gambling. Shame on you."

The Trickster right in front of her was confused and asked "Wasn't that the point, you tried to cheat as much as I did. It's just that we are better at it than you are."

Aveil leaned back in her chair and nonchalantly put her feet on the table before questioning "Did I? I don't recall cheating a single card, and I have no sleeves to hide anything in for that matter. I played by the rules the entire time, now who is really the winner here?"

All the Tricksters but one disappeared into thin air before the one that remained stood up and said "Well done, Aveil. Since you were the only one that didn't cheat, you were the only one that could win, so…that makes you a winner."

"Obviously. Now, do the abracadabra whatever and say this was the end of it."

"You asked for it…" was all he said before he snapped his fingers and she disappeared as well.

All three of them then spontaneously appeared back in the room they were before, and to be greeted with the top hat wearing Trickster again.

Aveil stood up from her seat to discover that the hypnosis the Trickster played on them was gone, Zelda and Ilia got up shortly after.

The Trickster looked at them and said "For the record, I went easy on you. But you completed my games and you are free to pass through the door behind me. There you will find probably the most dangerous object in existence. I will look forward to see if you survive. Hehihihihihihihehehe!"

Zelda looked at both Aveil and Ilia before she asked "Ready?"

Ilia answered "I am." while Aveil just nodded.

Aveil took out her twin blades while Zelda took out her bow and loaded it with an arrow. Then the three of them slowly entered the room before them.

In the room they entered, there was nothing inside…but one figure. It was yet another Trickster, but this one had the dreaded Majora's Mask on his face.

Majora used his voice to address the newcomers.

"It took you some time to get here, but now we can begin."

The three women that just entered the room stopped in their tracks to size up their adversary.

Zelda decided to ask "What is it that you want?"

Majora stared at her with its unblinking eyes as it answered "Misery. I want you and everyone else to be miserable. I want this world of joy and happiness to be destroyed, then I shall dance in the ashes of what remains until I am no more. There is no future, there is no hope, there are no more legends. They are all meaningless."

Aveil snapped "We will see about that!"

"You think that this is something that can be stopped? You are wrong, this world shall fall, I shall consume everything!"

Majora then turned its gaze skyward and charged itself full with twisted magic that it used to send the entirety of the roof into the chasm below the mansion. Now with the roof gone, the haunting moon could clearly be seen. Its hysterical eyes were staring directly at their location. It was now very close to the world below. A cold wind from the surrounding mountain flowed inside the room. And everyone could feel how the temperature dropped.

Majora then taunted "Just look above you, if you think there is something that can be stopped, then try to stop it!"

In that moment, Ozshen jumped inside through the open roof and immediately said "I apologise for my late entrance, but I couldn't find a good way inside."

Zelda answered "Apology accepted, now get ready. Ilia, stay back while we handle this thing."

Ilia immediately complained "But what if-"

Zelda turned around and gave her best friend a sincere look as she pleaded "Just keep yourself safe, please."

Ilia hesitated a little before she nodded and backed away.

But when they returned their focus to the masked Trickster, he started to act strangely. He made all sorts of weird contortions as his voice grunted in agony.

"This form…isn't right. It's failing." Majora stated out loud.

The Trickster's voice then filled the room as he explained "Did you enjoy my little surprise? That phantom you possessed was never the real me, it was just a shadow of my true spirit. And I have programmed it to self destruct when you were confronted by Zelda and her gang. Hehihihihiheheheh!"

The mask-wearing Trickster then exploded into black smoke, leaving only his clothes behind. Majora's Mask was slightly damaged by being linked to that phantom as it self-destructed.

The Trickster informed "Now, that phantom was specifically designed to remove your ability to return back into your shell, and now you are vulnerable. So heroes, do what you do best!"

The mask floated up into the air and taunted in a voice that sounded as if several voices were speaking at once "You want to live in my world? A world without joy, without mercy, and without your precious idols?"

Zelda had powerful déjà-vu feeling about this moment as she was sure she had a dream just like it.

"Then let me show you just what my world is like!"

Majora's Mask then grew bigger and spawned several red tentacles from its back just before it descended towards the humans below.

Ozshen threw three throwing knives at Majora, but they all bounced off with a clinging sound as if the mask was made of rock.

Majora then shifted to the side and spun around so fast that the spikes on the mask formed a dangerous disc blade that headed straight for Aveil and Ozshen. When it got too close, they both jumped out of the way and slammed their respective swords at the incoming object as it passed them. But that didn't even scratch the mask.

Majora then shifted and stared directly at Zelda before its eyes started to glow and beams of light shot out of them. The beams were aimed directly at her and she had to run out of the way to prevent herself from being burned alive. But Majora followed her wherever she ran.

However, that left it distracted, and Aveil noticed that the Mask had turned its back to her while chasing after Zelda. And the Gerudo used this opportunity to throw one of her blades straight into the backside of the mask.

Majora sunk down to the ground by the impact and was frozen in place at the damage done to it. But before it could recover, Aveil tackled it down and jammed a second sword into its vulnerable back. She then held onto both swords in an attempt to keep the mask on the ground, but Majora had other plans.

It tried to hover up into the air again, but Aveil kept her golden blades firmly into the twisted object. She was trying to use her own weight to drag it back down to the ground.

While she did so, she shouted "Zelda, hit it now, hurry!"

Zelda saw the situation and aimed her bow at the mask while using her magic to transform the arrow into a Light Arrow.

Majora tried to shake off Aveil by using its tentacles to drag her off it while one snared her neck and tried to strangle her. Eventually she lost her grip and fell down to the floor. But at that moment, Majora's Mask had its back to Zelda and she used the perfect moment to send her Light Arrow into the vulnerable backside of the demonic mask.

The combination of the Light Arrow and Aveil's golden scimitars were way to much for the mask to handle and golden cracks formed along it just before it was crushed into a dozen pieces that spread out all across the floor.

Aveil's blades and the arrow also landed among the pieces.

The Gerudo got on her feet and calmly picked up her swords while commenting "Well, that was a lot easier than I thought."

Zelda looked at the broken pieces of Majora's Mask uncertainly, and then she glanced at the moon above them.

"That moon is still up there, I don't think this is quite over yet." The Princess noted.

Suddenly, the voice of the Happy Mask Salesman shouted "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ME!?"

Everyone in the room turned their attention to him, who had appeared in the middle of the room with no clear explanation of how and when he got there.

He was beyond furious at the moment as he roughly held his head in his hands as he fumed "Do you have any idea of what you just did?! You just made everything so much worse! The Happy Mask will now stop working and Majora will be unstoppable! YOU JUST DOOMED THIS WORLD TO DESTRUCTION!"

Aveil simply mused "Just relax, whoever you are. We took care of the problem. So stop worrying, okay."

A haunting voice then asked "Did you think it would be so easy? You judged me by your standards, you believed I would follow your rules, you thought I was anything like you."

The broken pieces of Majora's Mask then reassembled themselves into the shape they once were. However, the pieces were still floating slightly separately from each other and they didn't stand still either. This broken mask that could barely hold itself together was still as much of a threat as it always was, and it was far from destroyed.

At the sight of it, all the people in the room cautiously backed away and kept their eyes on the monster before them.

Majora's voice continued to speak "We're all masks. But what is the mask? How long will you wear a mask before the mask becomes a part of you? And how long will you wear a mask before you become a part of the mask? Your assumption was that I was anything but a mask. You thought that you could kill me, but in order to kill something, it would have to be alive. And your mistake was…that you thought I was alive to begin with. I am not alive, I have never been alive, and I will never be alive."

Zelda asked "Then what are you?"

"I am misery, I am suffering, I am depression, I am angst, I am sorrow, I am hate, and I am anger. Everything that doesn't bring happiness, I hate happiness. Happiness represents everything that I am not. I was the shadow of a madman's attempt to become happy, he sought to remove himself from that that made him miserable by removing it from his soul. He created a mask to always make him happy, but the thoughts that removed his joy in the first place instead came to this mask. And through the eons, I was created from that misery. I am nothing but nightmares. I am the same as Dethl, just trapped in a state without a mind to haunt. But now…I am no longer a pawn of happiness, I am now free. And under my gaze, no soul will ever feel joy again."

"I won't let you do that, Majora!"

"Because you believe joy and happiness deserves to exist. Let me show you just how meaningless those thoughts are!"

The broken pieces of the mask then disintegrated itself to dust and whirled up into a small twister.

"I will show you a life without happiness, without meaning, without hope!"

The dust then shot straight towards Zelda and flowed into her mouth, nostrils and even her ears, causing her to fall to her knees while coughing uncontrollably.

Ilia began to run towards her, but was stopped when Ozshen grabbed her half-way while warning "Don't get too close to her!"

Zelda's eyes then started to glow yellow as they transformed to look like Majora's, four spikes started to grow out of her cheeks while two more shot out like a pair of horns. She screamed in agony as her hair transformed into multi-coloured tentacles, her fingers became elongated and claw-like and her face exerted the same colour patterns as Majora's Mask itself.

'Zelda' let out a long breath, revealing a long snake-like tongue. Then she slowly turned her head to stare at Ilia with her new soul-piercing eyes.

Then she spoke in a demented version of Zelda's voice "So much I despise in this form, this…Zelda thinks so highly of virtues like justice and compassion, and yet she receives nothing in return. Her anguish will sustain me for a while longer."

Majora then faded out of existence and then reappeared at three places in the room at once, then before the eye could catch it, she merged back into one, and then split into three again. The entire time she was laughing uncontrollably.

The Happy Mask Salesman tried to slowly back away from the room, but before he could, Majora suddenly appeared behind him.

"So you would just leave in the middle of everything? No, none shall ever leave this room, not until I am finished playing with every single one of you."

At those words, both Ozshen and Aveil put their guard up to defend themselves, while Ilia backed away slowly. Her face was one of horror at seeing what Majora had done to her best friend and not-so-secret crush.

Majora then shifted her attention to the salesman and approached him menacingly.

While he was backing away from her, he reasoned "Since I created you, your existence is still bound to me. Which means…that you cannot harm me. Now if you don't mind, I would like to request that you go back to sleep."

"Sleep? I do not sleep. I am just dormant on the outside while a raging storm always infuses the thoughts that guide me. Your belief that I could never hurt you is false. While you may have created the mask, you should know that I am a mask no more. I have been created from your misery and your nightmares. And your misery will always destroy you in the end."

At the end of that sentence, Majora grabbed the mask salesman by the neck and lifted him off the ground.

He struggled to breathe as he gasped out "You still…need me, without me…you can't exist."

"That was true a long time ago, but now…" she then held out her left hand to reveal the Triforces of Courage and Wisdom that Zelda acquired before Majora hijacked her body. "…I am free…there are no strings on me."

Then without warning, the Happy Mask Salesman turned to dust within seconds, though his clothes and backpack still remained intact. However, his face remained as a mask with the same constant smile on it.

Majora looked at the mask in curiosity and picked it up with her long claw-like fingers, then she held it up so the others could see it.

"This is the mask that created me, the mask that makes you happy. This man forged this mask to force himself to be joyful, to be happy, to have hope. But what happens to those feelings that takes that away from you? They end up here! I am born from those feelings, I am those feelings!"

The mask in Majora's hands then suddenly began to ask "You've met with a terrible fate, haven't you?" in the salesman's voice.

Majora looked at the mask with her haunting eyes and answered "Yes…I have."

Then she crushed the mask with the force of her hand alone and let the pieces fall to the floor. The nightmarish abomination then turned her attention to the other three people in the room and approached them slowly.

Ozshen reasoned "That is no longer Zelda, don't hesitate to slay it if it gets to close."

Aveil didn't answer and just gave him an uncertain look.

Ilia however had her eyes wide open and gasped out "But you can't! Zelda could still be in there somewhere, there must be some way to save her!"

Ozshen lost his patience and demanded "Just…SHUT UP! I don't have time or patience for your unhealthy feelings! Now let me do my duty and rid this world of this abomination!"

Ilia was shocked by the Sheikah's sudden outburst and froze in her place while being at a complete loss for words.

Majora simply laughed at the scene and mocked "Yes, Ozshen, why don't you rid the world of this abomination? Why don't you try?"

Then without warning, Majora fazed out of reality and reappeared at several places at once, thus confusing the blind Sheikah of what direction the attack would come from.

Majora appeared just behind Ozshen and he made a wide slash with his silver sword at her direction, but in a split-second she appeared on the other side of him instead just before grabbing him by the neck and then throwing him directly at the wall on the other side of the room. He collided with such force that the wall cracked and the Sheikah was knocked unconscious.

Aveil was actually starting to get terrified of this…creature that Zelda had become, especially after it defeated Ozshen so easily. But her first instinct was to keep the near defenceless Ilia safe from this monster.

When the Gerudo placed herself between Ilia and Majora, the abomination scoffed at the gesture.

"Being protective? Loyalty, trust, friendship…they are all meaningless."

Majora's arm then transformed into a long whip-like tentacle and she used it to snare Aveil by the foot and slam her to the floor…twice. The attack was painful enough to make the Gerudo cough out blood while she struggled to get on her feet.

As Majora smiled at the sight of the wounded Gerudo on the floor, she then turned her attention to Ilia. The girl backed away from what was left of her best friend and stared into her soul piercing eyes in horror.

Majora then began to speak "I can feel Zelda's thoughts, and I know that by inflicting pain on you, she will be miserable enough to sustain me for an eternity."

She began to raise her hand to grab Ilia like the others, but…something was amiss.

Majora stopped herself before she could reach Ilia as she noticed that her hand had reverted back into a human hand. Then Majora started to convulse and shift as parts of her transformed back and forth between how it was before and after Majora hijacked it.

Zelda shouted "Get out of my mind!" and grabbed her head with her hands, one being human and the other being…well…not.

Majora then declared "This form is mine! Stop interfering!"

"No, it's my body, you monster! Now get out of it and leave me and my friends alone!"

"I think not! Not until I have crushed them beyond their own capacity of agony! Now stop holding me down with this anchor!"

"I will fight you every step of the way for as long as I have to, but you are not touching Ilia! YOU HEAR ME!?"

"Ahhhhhh! This will never work! I will just have to get rid of you, all of it! I will consume your soul, I WILL CONSUME EVERYTHING!"

Ilia watched what was happening in front of her but had no idea what she had to do. Zelda then grabbed her by the neck and stared deep into her eyes, and the soul-piercing eyes of Majora switched to Zelda's deep blue eyes that Ilia put her trust in.

"Ilia, you have to get out of here. This thing inside me will kill you and I don't know if I can stop it forever. I can't stand the thought of losing you, it is too late for me, do me one last favour and save yourself!"

Ilia's stubbornness suddenly kicked in and she declared "Never! I know you are strong, but you have to be brave. You didn't earn the Triforce of Courage for nothing, don't let that monster control you, break its hold!"

"I can't!"

"You can!"

Majora then reverted her face back to that of the abomination and shouted "No you can't! And you are like poison. I can't even touch you without that conscience holding me back. But I will break it, and then I will annihilate this world and everything in it, including you!"

Majora warped away to the centre of the room and held her arms and face up to confront the moon. She then let out a bone-shrilling scream that was so loud that the entire mountain heard it. Ilia could only cover her ears to keep herself from going deaf.

In response from the inhuman shriek, the moon opened its mouth wide open, and through it, some sort of stream of magic flowed down towards Majora. And as it enveloped her, she turned around to face Ilia right before the stream sent her flying into the mouth itself.

But the stream was still there, almost as if it was waiting for someone.

Ilia thought long and hard about the situation 'I know I'm well out of my depth here, I don't have a clue how to solve this situation. But I can't just sit here and do nothing, this monster has taken the person I care about most in my life as its prisoner. And now it wants to destroy her soul. I. Can. Not. Let. That. Happen! I don't even care anymore, I'm going to save her even if it's the last thing I do!'

With an anger in her eyes that she had never wielded before and a newfound courage unlike any other, Ilia began to run towards the beam of light in front of her. She was going to save Zelda, and she was going to kill Majora, no matter what!

With all her courage she could muster, she entered the stream of energy and was lifted off the ground to fly towards the mouth of the demonic moon above her.

Aveil had gotten to her knees and saw the girl fly up into that moon, but all she could do was watch as she was swallowed by the small planet.

The Trickster walked up to her and calmly said "Let's see if one girl really can make a difference…"

Aveil simply muttered "No, let's hope that she can."

"This world is a funny thing, it is always the smallest, least expected things that decide everything. And let me tell you, I never underestimated that girl for a second."

Ilia finally reached the black void inside the mouth of the moon.

But what would she find? Would she be able to save Zelda from the clutches of Majora, or would this be the last struggle the world would ever see?

Author Notes

Plot Twist Galore!

So…yeah, all that happened. Majora hijacked Zelda's body and has taken her to the moon with Ilia following closely behind.

How will this end? Right now…I haven't the foggiest. But when I finish the next chapter, then maybe I actually might.

I got to say though, that Majora is the hardest character to write dialogue to. As I'm trying to balance out the need to understand what the hell it is or keeping it mysterious and ominous. The thing I settled for was to make it slightly more understandable, but alien in personality, it can simply not comprehend all that nonsense we take for granted, it simply can't think that anything is supposed to be happy. It is not alive, it is just a cursed mask.

The whole thing with Dethl's involvement will be more explained in the next chapter...or maybe a lot later.

Also, the Trickster got a bit more flushed out in this chapter, but don't think you know what he's up to yet. I mean it's not like this is his only whacked out plan he had thought out. The question is: does he know what he's after?

Trickster: Hmm…good question…

Also, I don't know how to play poker, and it's been a very long times since I played chess, so that is why I didn't really go into too much detail when I wrote those games.

And don't worry, the fourth wall breaking will not go to so ridiculous degrees as this chapter anytime soon.

Hades: Yes, keep telling yourself that. It's not like anybody gives a damn. I most certainly don't.

Flufux: Alright that's crossing the line, get the hell out of here!

Hades: Oh, is someone grumpy? I just though I would have a little bit of fun.

Trickster: I didn't let him in, I swear.

Flufux: That's it, I'm pulling you out of this story for quite a lot of chapters for all of this, see how you like it!

Trickster: WHAT?!

Hades: Whatever, it's not like I have anything to do with you or anything.

Flufux: You heard me.

Trickster: Grumble, grumble…

If you want to know how the whole cliff-hanger mess will turn out, stay tuned! And for goodness sake, leave a review! I NEED them!