"Wonderful! Simply wonderful!"
Mandgrova clapped her hands together to express her profound happiness.
"When I destroyed the harp, it's remains scattered to the four corners of the valley... I recommend you approach the Southwestern corner first. There, lies the forest of confusion, be careful not to get lost."
"Getting lost in the woods? You asked the wrong kid for that! Saria here can navigate her way through any undergrowth."
"Er, yes... thank you, Mari. I suppose I am the sage of the forest. Link here is the real trooper, he saved the land of Hyrule once!"
Link took a glance at Saria. He knew that she was the sage of the forest... before he saved Hyrule and everyone forgot what he had done. But how did Saria know he saved Hyrule? Hadn't everyone but Zelda forgotten his achievements when he traveled back to the past to prevent Ganondorf's takeover?
"Sage of the forest? Link saving Hyrule? My goodness, Saria, did something happen while I was gone? Or do you and Link have some sort of joke going on?"
"N-never mind that... we shall travel to the forest of confusion, and recover the first piece of the harp, come on Link."
Saria and Link exchanged awkward looks at each other, before Saria deliberately looked away. Was Saria hiding something?
"Good luck, kids! I shall be waiting here!"
The trio exited the catacombs and arose again in Plurbiocris. All the town's lifelessness now held meaning to these three, a meaning that only they could resolve. As they walked back across the civilization, several people seemed to be staring at them.
"It's me, isn't it? They want me and my magic, don't they?"
Mari fluttered lower and tried to hide behind Saria. Indeed, everyone looked at the fairy with a tinge of greed in their eye.
"Don't worry, Mari, we will keep you safe. Let's get out of here before something bad happens."
The travelers continued to the south gate at a brisk pace. Neither of the two were look where they were going, and they bumped right into a man. A strange, eerily familiar man.
"My... at it again, I see?"
"Who... who are you?"
"And I see you've found a new friend, haven't you, fairy boy?"
The man was the happy mask salesman, a creep who claims to sell masks to make the world a happier place. He smiled down at the two children, Link seemed particularly unsettled by his appearance there.
"Not to worry, boy, I am merely passing through. Though, since I have run into you, might I ask something? Nothing much? If you see a boy wearing a peculiar mask, one that looks similar to the face of a Deku scrub, could you point me in his direction? I offered to let him try on the mask, but he never payed for it! Sorry to be a bother. Carry on, you two!"
The happy mask salesman continued walking, and Link continued staring at him until he was long out of sight.
"... someone you know, I presume?"
Link simply shook the thoughts out of his head, and resumed walking. Saria and Mari followed.