With a cough, Link pushed debris off himself.
His head was spinning from what had just happened. A giant fireball sent down from Mandgrova had destroyed the Grenk-Grock Knick-Knack shop in its entirety. Luckily, the blast had not hit him nor Saria directly, they had only gotten caught in the ruin of the shop. Saria! Link staggered to his feet and began searching the rubble around him. She lay still under a pile of wood boards and cracked bricks. Quickly clearing the mess from atop her, Link looked her over. He couldn't tell if anything was broken, but she didn't look seriously injured. Her shield seemed to have taken the brunt of the blow, thankfully. He gave her a light pat on the cheek and she snapped to life instantly.
"Wah! L-Link? ...Ow... I feel like I've been trampled by a bunch of Gorons."
Saria stared upward wide eyed. She seemed rather displaced by the blast too.
"Where are we? What happened?"
Another nearby explosion reminded Saria of the situation at hand. With a heave of her lungs, she returned to her full senses. Still unable to assess his friend's condition, Link tried to inquire himself.
"Are you..."
"Okay? No. Not at all. Everything hurts, and I'm pretty sure I broke something. I still think I can stand though..."
Saria sat up, and pushed herself to her feet. She winced when she put weight onto one of her legs, but stood up nonetheless.
"Alright, I'm good, I'm good. I mean, good given the circumstances. What were we doing here again? Where even are we?"
After an odd moment of staring around the rubble, Link remembered after spotting a familiar wood carving of a wood creature amidst the rubble. Walking up to the Deku mask, he pulled it from its place in the rubble. While him and Saria had been lucky and not taken the explosion, the mask was not so fortunate. Link dropped the mask in horror when he realized that a chunk of it had been blown off. It was like staring at a broken piece of himself...
"Oh, that's one of your masks, isn't it? It's not supposed to look like that, right?"
No, it most certainly was not. While Link stared into the dead eyes of the Deku mask, Saria shuffled through the rubble. Before long, she unearthed another mask, which was actively burning. She did her best to blow out the few sparks on it before looking it over.
"Huh, this one looks like a boy with purple hair..."
Kafei's mask! Link ran over to look at its singed form. Though he had put Termina behind him, it hurt him to see his masks destroyed like this. As he and Saria kept digging, they found more masks. Not all of them were badly damaged, but several were. Each mask had a story behind it. The couple's mask, the gibdo mask, the postman's hat, the troupe leader's mask. But the one he was looking for... it was nowhere to be found!
"Wh-... where is it?!"
"Calm down Link, whatever you're looking for is somewhere in this ruin. If you would pardon my asking, what's so powerful about these masks anyway? Also, is this one even yours? Because it's just outright unflattering. How are you supposed to see out of it?"
Saria held up Kamaro's mask in front of her face while she waited for Link to respond.
"Each embodies the... restlessness, unease... of someone. Not all of them are powerful, but each is unique."
Link tried not to sob when he found that the Zora mask had been cleaved in two.
"So we're looking for a particular mask, right? What makes this one so different?"
"Power. Too much power."
"Yikes. So, what does it look like?"
"... that."
There it was... sitting under a cracked beam, the mask that contained godlike power. For a moment, Link stared into its soulless black eyes. This mask... its power was almost too much for him before. Without it though, he never would have defeated Majora, and broke Termina's curse. The fierce deity mask.
"This... this is the one, Saria."
Saria stopped digging through wood and looked at the mask. Just one glance sent a shiver down her spine.
"Is it really the most powerful of your masks? Can it really help us defeat Mandgrova?"
Link did not respond. He only continued to stare at the haunting mask. If Link put the mask on... he feared he could loose control of its power. Before, he was in an arena, there was no one to get hurt. But now... nothing was there to contain his power. The mask's might was so awesome, even he wasn't sure he could handle it. Not a second time.
"...Saria?"
"Yes Link?"
"Whatever happens next... promise me you won't forget our friendship..."
"Link! Of course I would never forget you! But... why? You're not about to do something rash, are you?"
"This mask... its power does something to you. You can harness it... but..."
From her friend's tone, Saria picked up what he was saying.
"It's dangerous?"
Link nodded simply. With the mask on, passion and adrenaline took over. What if he couldn't control it? What if the mask's power sent him on a mad rampage? What if... he hurt Saria? No... there was no time for what ifs, only courage. As long as he had courage, he could overcome anything. He had controlled the fierce deity's power before. Now that he had found peace within himself, surely he could overcome it again. Tilting his head to the sky, the triforce of courage burnt bright on Link's left hand. Mandgrova had no idea what was about to hit her.
"Please don't do anything crazy, Link. I..."
Choking on her words, Saria clasped her hands across her chest. Now wasn't the right time to get emotional...
"...I still need you to save my Hyrule."
That wasn't the real reason she wanted him safe... but it was still a valid reason. Link held the mask up to his face and paused. With a smirk, he winked at his best friend.
"Saria, crazy is exactly what we need."
Pressing the wood carving to his face, the transformation began. Wood began to graft to his skin, and he keeled at the waist. Raw power began to surge through his veins. Link clutched the top of his head as a wave of throbbing pain shot through his nerves. His legs began to get longer, his arms brawnier. Saria quickly grew terrified of what was happening to her friend.
"Link!? Link! Are you okay?!"
Arching his back into the sky, Link unleashed a guttural, distorted bellow. With one last wave of pain, the transformation was complete. Where his tunic had been, a suit of armor took its place. He had shed the body of a boy for that of a ferocious warrior. Standing two and a half meters tall, he towered over a frightened Saria.
"I-... Link?"
The man turned to face the short forest girl, his eyes glowing like the sun, his face covered in war paint. Had Link been possessed by a demon?! He reached forward, causing Saria to instinctively turn away. However, the giant warrior's touch was gentle, he stroked her chin with his fingertip. Saria turned back towards the man, finding a warm grin on his face. This giant was still Link. A slight giggle escaped Saria's lips as she made the realization. Link gave a wink, before turning to face Mandgrova with eyes of steel.
Holding a hand to the air, a gargantuan double helix sword materialized into his fingers. With one powerful boost, he leapt into the air and landed atop a building. Link held his weapon behind his back, charging energy. The blade of his sword began to circulate with power, pulsating up and down the double helix shape. With a swing and a battle cry, Link sent a wave of energy hurtling towards Mandgrova. The blast struck her square in the cheek, quickly angering her.
"What?! Who dares defy my wrath?"
Saria cheered for the blow while spectating from the street. A recursive blast brought Mandgrova's attention right to Link. She scoffed at the warrior atop the roof.
"Pitiful being, you think you can oppose me? This valley shall be cleansed! Your petty magic can do nothing about that!"
Rhythmically strumming the harp, Mandgrova prepared an attack. A tighter ball of energy formulated before her, and in the flick of her finger, she sent it zeroing in on Link. With a quick slice, Link's sword volleyed the magic towards Mandgrova. Surprised by her own offensive's return, Mandgrova quickly batted it back. Swinging again, Link returned it once more. Instead of swatting it back again, however, next time the titanic fairy caught the ball in one hand, squeezing it tight.
"You think you're so cute, don't you? Sending my own magic back at me? Child's play! I'll show you real power!"
Setting down the harp in the air, Mandgrova cupped both her hands together around the ball. All about her, sprinkles of fairy dust pulsated and gathered in her palms. The one ball glowed brighter and brighter, soon too bright to look at. Once she felt she had built up enough magic, Mandgrova unleashed a concentrated beam of pure fairy energy toward Link. Like a shaft of light, the beam shot through the air, tearing through anything in its path. With nowhere to go, Link blocked the attack with his sword, dividing the beam down the middle. However, as powerful as her magic was, there was no way he could hold it off for long. Bit by bit his footing slipped. Before he knew what hit him, Link's footing disappeared, and his warrior body was propelled into the sky. From the ground, Saria watched as Link blew off the roof, sending him careening through the air with a scream. He slammed onto the cobblestone next to his friend with a crash.
"Agh! Link? A-are you alright?"
The fierce warrior got up without so much as a word, and leapt back into action. With another swing, he pelted an arc of energy toward the fairy, who was rather irate with the boy. The blast dealt no visible damage, but Mandgrova at the very least appeared hurt.
"I am a being of magic itself, boy. Do you really think your sorcery can stop me? I am immortal! I have been appointed my power by the goddesses themselves! I will finish you now, and all the city with you!"
With an ear piercing cackle, Mandgrova picked up the harp, playing a song to bring about the valley's demise. Link swung his sword vehemently, but to no avail. His beam dissipated shortly before hitting her. She must've put up a protective spell! As she continued playing, Saria witnessed firsthand as something else began to happen. Buildings began to uproot from the ground, pathway along with it. Man made structures from all across the valley were ripped from their foundations and pooled towards Mandgrova. Amidst the air, houses, shops, temples, and towers all circled. On the surface, Saria covered her mouth with her hands as property all around her floated off, pulling pieces of ground up with them. A sickness came upon her stomach. This... this was too much.
The house Link was atop lifted too into the air. What could he do about this? Even charged up, his sword blasts left Mandgrova unfazed thanks to the harp's protection. Looking down, Link realized just how high in the air he had gotten. He could easily see the entire city at once.
"And now, what goes up, must come down. Any last words, courageous one?"
Was she really going to drop the whirlpool of buildings atop the city? The cluster only rose higher and higher. Link remained silent throughout. He couldn't give up! But... there was nothing he could do to hurt her at this point. Defeat loomed on the horizon for the boy.
"No words? Not even one? Fine... let it be known that I was gracious enough to give you a chance. Now... you shall die."
With the swing of her arm, the buildings in the sky ceased to float. Gravity took hold upon them, and soon, Link was plummeting at an alarming pace. He could not possibly think of a way things could go worse. Nothing in Link's power seemed to affect Mandgrova, half the city was plummeting to its doom, and to top it off, Saria was on the the ground, beneath the falling city. As she stared wide eyed from the ground, Saria's own horror was immeasurable. The situation had quickly grown most dire ...dire. Most dire of situations. Why did those words sound familiar? Frantically, Saria emptied her pocket, finding her letter from the happy mask salesman. The song! The letter said to use it in only the most dire of situations. This seemed incredibly dire. Saria buzzed through the letter's crudely drawn staff while pulling out the ocarina of time. With hardly a second thought, she put the ocarina to her lips, taking a glance upward before starting to play. She tried to play through the short tune as fast a she could, but in her desperation, she kept misplaying notes. Each second she wasted was vital, the uprooted city was approaching at an alarming speed, desperate to crush her. Slowing down, she tried again to play the song. She was extra careful to sustain each note long enough, her fingers quickly darting from note to note. The melody carried an ominous feeling, yet, an odd sense of hope. The song was almost finished, but the storm of buildings was almost there too. As the song drew to a close, she shut her eyes tight. The whole world began to grow dark from the shadows of the buildings. Playing out the last notes, she tipped her head down. If the song did nothing, she would be crushed. She held the ocarina of time tight to herself. If this was the end, then she did all she could.