"You're really doing it! Just one more now, lad!"
Mandgrova was ecstatic as ever when she placed the blue harp piece on the pedestal. When she returned to face Link, she found that the boy didn't share her emotion.
"What's the matter boy? Why are you down?"
Shuffling his feet, Link muttered to himself. Since he wasn't going to say anything, Mari decided to spit it right out.
"Link and Saria got into an argument... and she left..."
"Oh, goodness forgive me! I forgot there was two of you. I simply haven't been the same since the magic left this land. My condolences to you, is there anything I can do to help?"
"No, I'm sure she's long gone by now. Thank you, though. Where is the next harp piece?"
"The last fragment, the purple fragment, lies to the southeast, inside an awful place none should ever venture. The palace of lost souls. Originally constructed as a crypt by the ancient Plurbians, vengeful spirits of the deceased have long since overrun it. Even today, it serves as a brewing pot for the undead, they play tricks on the minds of those who dare set foot on their grounds."
"Ghosts. Brilliant. Just when we thought things couldn't get any worse."
"Few who enter ever return, and those who do, are never the same. I wish you two luck, this will be your most difficult trial yet."
Turning his head over his shoulder, Link snapped off a spiteful reassurance before he left.
"Don't worry, I've got nothing left to lose."
Atop Epona's back, Saria trodded through the depths of the lost woods.
An ominous silence filled the trees, but she knew the quiet of the woods like an old friend. Halting Epona, she dismounted, and looked all around herself. She stood at her special spot, the sacred forest meadow. An odd wave of nostalgia washed over Saria, she couldn't remember the last time she had set foot into her favorite place in the woods. Her life almost revolved around the area at one point. Used to, she would go there daily, and play her ocarina to her heart's content. One day she taught Link her song from the stump in the corner. Both had a blast messing around with their ocarinas, they were truly best friends. Well, were.
Then came the memories she wasn't so fond of. After Link left, she began to feel the calling, the forest's cry for help. It was thanks to that calling that she was in her current mess! Ganondorf was bent on her destruction, but it seemed the power of the goddesses themselves protected her from his attacks. He still managed to trap her, and make her suffer for nearly seven years. Then... her savior arrived. When she was rescued by Link, no sooner was she elated than was she disheartened. Perhaps it really was fate that they walk different paths in life. What had happened to her savior? What had changed in his heart? While she had searched for the boy for over a year and a half, the last week had told her everything she needed to know. While he was still a valiant fighter, Link's motives fell into the wrong place, and his morals seemed no more.
"What happened to him..."
For what would probably be the last time, she sat down on her favorite stump, and played her song on the ocarina of time. Though the notes that echoed out were the same notes, somehow, the song seemed sadder, more melancholy than lively and joyful. Yet, every sound produced from the instrument, came straight from Saria's heart. The melody seemed to tell the story of times lost, friendships forgotten, and acts regretted, but through it all, times to come. As Saria's Song drew to a close, she stretched out the last few notes as far as she could. Now, the whole wood sat quiet, only the rush of the wind gave sound to the night. For several minutes, she listened to the forest's lullaby and shed somber tears, before deciding it was time. With a heavy sigh, the girl stood up, and put the ocarina of time to her lips once more. She started to play the Song of Time, before she was interrupted by the strangest sound.
"Ahahaha!"
Maybe she was going crazy. Saria could have sworn that she heard the forest laugh at her. Putting away the instrument, she called into the lonely wood.
"Hello? Is someone there?"
She perked her ears for a response, and was met with only the stir of the wind. Carefully, she cut her eyes left and right, and all around herself. Something was off. She could feel the presence of someone. Turning around, she called again.
"Whoever's there, I have a sword!"
Only silence again. Saria was half convinced she had lost her mind. Panic quickly set upon her, she felt as though the massive forest was shrinking in upon her. A few feet behind her, she heard a tree branch snap, and she whipped around. Nothing was there. Unsure what else to do, she drew her sword and shield, and assumed a combat stance.
"I'm not afraid!"
Not even the wind greeted her call. Whipping around once more, she found nothing anywhere near her, yet, all her senses told her something was right on top of her. All at once, she felt the body heat of a being behind her, and heard a gentle, almost calming chuckle.
"You've met with a terrible fate, haven't you?"
"Are you sure this is a good idea? We're bound to get caught."
Silently, Link nodded his head. Since Saria had stolen the ocarina of time, Link had no way to call Epona to him. There wasn't any way the crafty young boy was going to just walk across the large plain. Standing in an alleyway, he monitored the stable alongside the shop of the thieving brothers.
"Just because they're thieves doesn't make stealing from them right..."
"Better them than someone else..."
Carefully, Link watched as Gerko slammed the stall door and walked inside his shop.
"Grenk-Grock Knick-Knack Shop? Those fools aren't very creative."
"Whatcha doin'?"
Suddenly, a girl jumped right up into Link's face. Startled, he shouted and tumbled over backwards. The little snoop was none other than Martha.
"Geez Martha! Not now! What are you doing here?"
"Oh, I just wanted to see what you three are doing. Where's greenie?"
"Really? You're gonna ask that?"
Link shot one stern glare at the girl, that was enough to tell her what had happened.
"Oh. I see. Well, you know how siblings can be. She'll be over it by tomorrow."
"She's not my sister..."
"She isn't? I guess that explains why you don't have green hair. So what are you doing? Stalking the Grenk brothers? I mean, they always seemed pretty fishy to me, but I don't think you'll find out anything by standing here."
Rushing across the street, Link silently made his way to the shop's stable.
"Hey, wait a minute, are you going to let their horses out? That would be so funny! They'd be running all over town looking for them!"
Tired of her nonstop talk, Link shushed Martha once, before climbing over the stall door. He mounted a short gray steed, though it was still much too big for him. After realizing what he was doing, Martha's eyes widened.
"Wait, you're stealing a horse?"
Withdrawing his sword, he struck the door latch, and the stall swang open. Like a cannonball, the horse shot from the stable, down the streets. Alerted from the sound of hooves, Grenko stormed out of the shop, and found Martha hiding in the alleyway.
"Hey kid! Where are your parents?!"
"Uh oh..."
Like the sneak she was, Martha took off across the town, the angry man hot on her tail.
"Get back here you little scamp!"
"Agh! How did you find me?! Stay away!"
Saria tried to push herself away from the happy mask salesman, but she only tripped backwards over a root.
"Child, there is no reason to fear me, I exist only to bring happiness to every soul, and you, little one, are not happy by any definition of the word."
"What makes you think I'm so unhappy? I was doing just fine until you showed up!"
"A lie, no matter how it is dressed, is still a lie. I heard your music, and that was no happy song. Now don't think me rude, but I have been following you, and I've seen what troubles you."
"Oh really, what?"
"You wish that your friend, the fairy boy, was the hero you need him to be."
"You've got that wrong, he's not my friend anymore."
"Exactly my point. I would like you to know, people are often different on the outside than they are on the inside. From the outside, you only see an image of them, a mask if you will, from their actions. What you don't see, is what's on the inside, that drives those actions. The face wearing the mask.
"Great, so you've got philosophical quips. Tell me something I don't already know."
Saria turned around and started to walk off, but the way the happy mask salesman spoke his next words piqued her interest, prompting her to delay her departure.
"Oh, little girl, there is much you don't know."
"... what do you mean by that?"
"Simply, whatever you need to know, I can answer."
"Okay... if you're so smart... why has Link turned from the path of a hero? Why has he left the light for the dark?"
"Hah! A good question indeed! But do you really want to know the answer?"
"What? Why wouldn't I want to know the answer?"
"Because, some questions are best left unanswered. I am simply seeing how dedicated you are to discovering the truth."
"I am as dedicated as they get."
"Good. Come with me. The path there is difficult."
"Wait, the path to what?"
"The truth, of course!"
"Hey! Slow down! I can't keep up!"
Link pulled back on the reigns of the mustang as hard as he could, but the beast seemed to have a mind of its own. With the horse being much too oversized for him, there wasn't much he could do to control it, but he fought every second to stay atop its back. Soon enough, the horse was done with the boy, and bucked him off into the dirt.
"Oh goodness! Link, are you okay?"
While he had survived worse falls, the impact had still left Link bruised. Wiping blood off his cheek, he refocused on his surroundings, despite a throbbing headache. A good forty meters away sat a creepy looking ruin, no doubt, the palace of lost souls. Pulling himself together, he progressed toward the structure, ignoring the pain in his body. Mari noticed the boy had a bit of wobble to his step, and gave him a suggestion.
"Don't push yourself too hard, maybe you should take a bit to rest, regain some energy. No one would think any less of you."
Between tired breaths, the boy responded.
"I would..."
Slowly but surely, Link made for the final harp piece.
After climbing across several tree stumps, the happy mask salesman stopped and pointed ahead of himself.
"Not much further, just through here."
"I don't get it, how is the answer to my question inside a tree?"
"You will see... you will see..."
Before Saria, stood a large old oak, with a rectangular hole cut through the middle of it. Cautiously, she peered into the hole, it was pitch black inside. She started to take a step, before quickly realizing that there was no ground ahead of her.
"What the-"
"Watch your step! It's a long way down! Ahahahaha!"
"Waaaaah!"
With both his hands, the mask man pushed Saria down into the pit, before jumping down after her. Wind blew through her hair as the world around her breezed by, but when Saria landed on the ground, despite the large fall, she scarcely felt as though she'd tripped over. She picked herself up from the puddle she landed in, and the happy mask salesman landed not too long after her.
"Now that wasn't so bad, was it? Just through these tunnels."
The girl wanted to chew out the strange man for pushing her off the cliff, but she remained silent for some reason. After venturing through a few odd caves and crossing a chasm or two, the pair made it to a strange walkway that twisted around itself, on the walls and across the roof.
"What is this place?"
"Follow me."
With one foot forward, the happy mask salesman walked across the path and, much to Saria's surprise, remained steady on it even as it spiraled around upside down. Unsure what else to do, she followed after the man, and found that gravity seemed to flow with the path. At the end of the long twist, they reached a strange stone structure, housing several mechanisms being powered by a river that ran through the middle of the room. All around them, a very peculiar and melodic noise rang out. *Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.* The happy mask salesman opened a door that, despite how deep they had gone, shone sunlight through the other side. The man motioned for the girl to walk through, and he closed the door after her. A city, alive and bustling greeted the pair.
"Where are we?"
"Hmmhmm... welcome to the land of Termina."
