Author's Note: Special thanks to everyone who's read my previous works. This was a long time in the making, as I wasn't as focused this time around. But it should be something special nonetheless. I'll still throw in a few * references for convenience.


Chapter 9

Walking into the cave, Princess Saria first noticed that Gnome didn't see them coming. She could hardly blame him though. He hardly got any visitors. Gnome was a short hermit whose beard reached the ground. He was about Saria's height, but he wasn't a Kokiri. He was a very old Hylian hermit, but he possessed uncanny magic ability. Magic that might have been used to someone's evil advantage.

"Hello, Gnome!" Princess Saria called out in a singsong voice.

That caught Gnome by surprise. He quickly turned around to see Princess Saria, Sodo, and Amanecera. But he quickly went back to his usual eccentric demeanor.

"Ah, Princess Saria," Gnome said. "Expect to see you here I did not. Catch me by surprise you do."

"I appreciate the courtesies, Gnome," Saria cut him off. "But we're here for a purpose."

"Here for a purpose you are?" Gnome echoed…sort of. "That purpose is what, I wonder?"

"I have some questions to ask you, Gnome," Saria said. "I have a feeling we aren't your first visitors. Someone else has been here. Is that right?"

"Ah, 'tis true," Gnome replied. "My only visitors you are not. Had one more visitor I did."

"Who was it?" Saria asked sternly.

Gnome looked around nervously. "Uh, at liberty to say I am not. Say who it was I cannot."

"Gnome," Saria growled. "I didn't come all the way out here on a wild goose chase. I came for answers and I know you have them."

"What you are talking about I know not."

"Don't give me that!" Saria snapped. "You know exactly what I'm talking about. Now tell me! Who was here?!"

Sodo and Amanecera looked at Saria in awe. Princess Saria could hardly believe it herself. This side of her had only come out just recently. It took her parallel self to give her the confidence to become more assertive. But despite her assertiveness, Gnome still wasn't answering. She decided to become more convincing.

"You know, Gnome," Saria continued. "I know there's nothing you like better than your solitude. But of course, I can't guarantee that your solitude will be insured."

"By that what you mean?" Gnome asked.

"I know that General Dore has been bored lately," Saria went on confidently. "So I doubt that he'd be against sending an army over here. In fact, he'd probably be more than happy to come here personally. Can you picture it, Gnome? Having a bunch of Kokiri soldiers in your cave? And what's even worse is that you'd never even see them coming!"

As if on cue, one of Gnome's spell books began to float up in the air. Then it dropped to the ground. Then, Gnome's bottles began to fall on the ground.

"No, alone please leave that!" Gnome shouted.

"Are you going to tell me what I want to know?" Saria asked smugly.

"Yes, yes!" Gnome cried out. "Tell you I will! The madness please stop!"

"Ok, Sodo," Saria called out calmly. "You can stop now."

Out of thin air, Sodo appeared holding Gnome's spell book. It was a wonderful gift that the Kokiri of this world had. There was nothing better than the ability to turn invisible. She still wondered how it was that the Kokiri of the Forest Sage Saria's world didn't have that ability. Of course, since she learned that, she didn't take her invisibility power for granted anymore.

She stared a hole right into Gnome. "Tell me everything."


Chapter 10

It would take a few minutes, but Princess Saria could wait. Gnome felt a bit shaken up having watched his magic bottles drop to the ground, but Saria made her point.

Gnome took a deep breath. "A few days ago it was. A visitor I did have. From the home of the Hylians, Lake Hylia, he said he was. A lord of war was he and demanded a method of revenge he did."

"Revenge for what?" Saria demanded.

"A month ago he said it was," Gnome continued. "Come did four strangers. Combated the Mask of Majora did they and when it was over, the Hylian Civil War did they end*. Seeking revenge for that he does."

"For ending the Hylian Civil War?" Amanecera asked. "Why would he want revenge for that?"

"Tell me everything he did not," Gnome responded. "Only for a portal did he ask. To the other world planned he to go."

"And did you give it to him?" Saria asked.

Gnome pulled out a blue bottle. "This I did give him. Portal in a bottle it is. When say you the magic words, open a portal it does. And to a dimension of your heart's desire it does lead."

Saria was ready to take the bottle, but she still had another question. "Who was he?"

"Large lord of war he was," Gnome answered. "Large goatee did he have and a dome of chrome he possessed."

"He's bald?" Sodo tried clarifying.

"Indeed he is," Gnome went on. "And wore a cape like the darkness of night did he. Offer me many rupees he did. So I gave him the potion and claim revenge he did. A parallel dimension he said his destination was, to take revenge on the four strangers. And said he that their world would suffer the same fate as a month before."

"He's starting a civil war?" asked Amanecera. As right as it sounded, Saria didn't believe that. She had another idea.

"No…he's going to look for Majora's Mask," Princess Saria said. "He wants their world to suffer the same fate as ours a month ago. Our world's fate a month ago was to be crushed by a falling moon. He wants to do the same to their world and to do that, he needs Majora's Mask." She looked back and glared a hole right into Gnome. "Give me the bottle, Gnome. I need to follow that warlord."

"This bottle you want?" Gnome asked in awe. "Have it you shall. But the same thing I told him, tell you now I shall. Using the potion, a risk it is. Left with only enough for one round trip I was. And sufficient for only one it is."

"Fine," Saria said calmly. "This will only require one anyway."

Sodo looked apprehensively at Saria. "You're not thinking of going there alone, are you?"

"And why not?" Princess Saria asked boldly.

"It's a strange universe," Amanecera answered. "You've never been there before. You don't have any idea of the danger you might encounter. You'd be risking your life."

"I don't care," Saria responded. "These four risked their lives to save our world. I owe them this much at least. I can't just let their world be destroyed by some radical from ours. I have to go." She looked back at the stumpy Gnome. "Hand me the bottle, Gnome."

"Ah, ah, forget something you do," Gnome said quickly. "This bottle, free it is not. Cost you it will. 50 rupees is the price."

Saria pulled out a bag. "I'll give you 20 rupees and a bag of Deku nuts."

"Deal!" Gnome shouted enthusiastically. "Love Deku nuts I do. Take your bottle and leave me be."

Saria grabbed the blue bottle and headed out of the cave, with Sodo and Amanecera closely behind.

"You won't regret this, Gnome."


Chapter 11

With the blue bottle now in her hand, Princess Saria was ready to take a bold step. She thought about what Amanecera had said and she was right. Saria was about to step into a new universe. Yes, it was a parallel version of her world, but it was still strange. Who knew what she would see? Already she knew that her parallel self lived in the forest, which she found to be really strange. And that warlord could be anywhere. She didn't have much to work with other than a vague description.

"I guess this is it," Saria said a bit nervously. "I don't know when I'll be back, or even IF I'll come back."

"I'm sure you'll be fine," Sodo said warmly. "But what'll we do in the meantime?"

"You two wait for me here," Saria answered. "If you see any of the other Kokiri coming, I suggest you hide in Gnome's cave. Don't forget that none of them know we're here."

Saria closed her eyes and took a deep breath. If what Gnome said was true, she had to concentrate. Amidst her focus, she poured down about half the bottle of the potion on the ground. A giant hole suddenly appeared on the ground. It had to lead to that other universe. Without a second thought, Saria jumped in…to where, she didn't know.

It was certainly silent in the Forest Temple. Of course, it wasn't a mystery to Somi as to why the Forest Temple was so silent. It was because the boys were out. They were still looking for Deku Scrubs for the final Kokiri feast. And the girls were left with the task of fixing up the table.

It was a huge table. It spanned a good twelve feet from left to right. All that was left was for Somi, Mira, Rala, Fala, and Ralo to set the table.

"Do you think they've caught anything yet?" Mira suddenly asked.

"Our skilled hunters?" Rala said with a smirk. "I doubt it. If I know them, they're probably setting up some complicated trap."

"You'd think they'd be past that," Fala said dryly.

"Especially since our world's about to end," Ralo added, looking up at the falling moon.

"I think I have to agree with Rala," Somi said. "They're probably setting up some big trap to get a huge Deku Scrub. But look at it this way. The traps usually work and they always catch at least one. And they'll especially go a step further now that there's the element of competition involved."

Mira shook her head. "I don't know why boys are so competitive. They could always catch more Deku Scrubs working together."

"Even the end of the world won't convince them of that," Rala shrugged.

The conversation went on like that for a few minutes, until Somi heard a sound coming from outside the courtyard.

"Wait a minute," Somi gasped. She held an ear out during the silence. "Do you hear that?"

The other girls held their ears out and listened to the sound.

It was Mira who made the observation. "It sounds like someone's pounding on one of the doors."

"So who wants to go find out?" Fala asked nervously.

"I'll find out," Somi said calmly. She figured somebody had to do it, especially since most of the girls were natural born cuccos.

She walked out of the courtyard and headed for another part of the temple. The pounding sound seemed to be getting louder as Somi got closer. She then saw what she was looking for. It was a door that led to a dead end and someone seemed to be locked in.

"Who's there?" Somi called out.

"Somi? Do something! Let me out of here!"

It was Sodo. Somi's first instinct was to ask how in the world he got locked in a dead-end door. But judging by how heavily Sodo was breathing, she decided that she'd better not. She opened the door and the young boy fell out.

"Are you all right?" Somi finally asked.

"No!" Sodo shouted out. "Somi, is Saria here?"

"I haven't seen her around," Somi answered. "Why? What's happened?"

"Oh, no. She's gone!" Sodo groaned. "She left the temple again!"

Somi knew what this meant. She also heard of the severe repercussion that results from any sage leaving their temple for too long*. The seal breaks and Ganondorf breaks loose.

"She left?" Somi echoed. "Sodo, didn't you ever tell her what would happen if she left for too long?"

"I-I meant to," Sodo said in frustration. "But I never got around to it. And it may end up coming back to haunt all of us."

"Look at this way," Somi tried saying. "It doesn't look like we have much time left anyway."

That was the wrong thing to say. The falling moon didn't make Sodo feel better. It made him feel worse. He started running towards the Forest Temple exit.

"Sodo! Where're you going?!"

"I've got to find Saria!" he shouted. "If she DOES stop the moon, we might have another problem on our hands."

Stop the moon? Was that possible? He definitely sounded serious. Somi thought about that. Did Saria have an idea that would stop the moon from colliding with Hyrule? Could she save their world? Or would she find someone that could? But if she did, then that would be just enough time for Ganondorf to be released on the world once more.


Chapter 12

Saria just stood drying herself off after coming out of the Lost Woods shortcut. The downside of that shortcut leading to Zora's River was that it always left her wet, and she never had a change of clothes with her. But it was worse for Malon.

"I can't believe it," Malon said. "I'm completely soaked."

Saria looked around Zora's River, which spanned all the way to Hyrule Field. "Where should we start?"

"I think we should try Hyrule Castle again," Malon responded. "Maybe the security isn't as beefed up as it was before. And hopefully, Zelda could give us an idea of where Link is." She paused. "If she's even there."

It would be a long walk, but it wasn't anything Saria wasn't used to by now. They finally started on their way.

The darkness of night engulfed Hyrule Castle that night. And Saria immediately saw exactly what Malon meant. The place was crawling with guards. The guards were literally around every corner. And the usual two guards at the front gate had now been replaced by nine guards.

"I think we should make our presence felt," Saria finally said.

Saria and Malon walked towards the front gate of Hyrule Castle, but as expected, were stopped by the nine guards.

"Hey, we remember you!" one of the guards said to Malon. "Didn't we tell you that you couldn't come in?"

"I just thought you'd have come to your senses by now," Malon said unwaveringly. "I have to see Princess Zelda."

"Y-Y-You can't!" the guard shouted nervously. "We have a dire situation and she's very busy!"

"You mean a falling moon," Malon pointed out. "Just because there's a moon falling on us doesn't mean that she can't see her friends."

"It's not just that," the guard shot back. Then he looked down at Saria. "And who's this?"

Malon paused. "She's…my niece. And…I think she's ill…"

Saria just looked up at Malon.

"Yes…VERY ill!"

That's when Saria took a hint. She moaned feverishly and fell to the ground. Malon picked up the little Forest Sage and put her over her shoulder.

"You see?" Malon continued. "She's very sick and I know that Zelda's very concerned. We need to see her."

"Be that as it may, you cannot!" the guard replied. "This situation is much more disastrous than you think. There are to be NO visitors."

"How does it get more disastrous than a falling moon?" Malon asked indignantly.

"I'm not at liberty to say," the guard said. "But I insist you leave now, before we remove you ourselves. And...get a doctor for that sick little girl."

It seemed like Malon was about to turn around, but then Saria saw something. It might have been the break they were looking for. She whispered something in the ear of the farm girl.

"Ok, then," Malon finally said. "We'll go. We'll just leave you to your business."

They were seemingly going to walk off, but Malon carried Saria towards another direction. She walked over to the end of the gate. Malon put Saria down and walked over to the gate.

"Ok, guys," Saria called out. "We're here."

Upon hearing that, Kreature, Krash, and Og, the three Lizalfos collectively known as COMBAT appeared behind the gate. If anybody knew where Zelda was, it would be them for they were her personal guards.

"We had a feeling you were here," Kreature said.

"We just had to see it for ourselves," Krash added.

"But it's too bad that we can't let you in," Og finished.

"Just what's going on in there?" Malon asked. "Where's Zelda?"

Silence. None of the three lizards said anything. Saria felt apprehensive. What had happened?

"She's…disappeared," Kreature finally said.

"No one's seen her in days," Krash added. "She hasn't been seen since before THAT started." Krash was pointing up in the air at the approaching moon.

"Even we haven't seen her," Og said grimly. "There hasn't been any sign of her."

Saria couldn't believe this. Both Link AND Zelda were missing and the moon was coming closer to crashing every minute. Things were looking grim.

"Where did you last see her?" Malon asked.

The three reptiles huddled up and thought about where they had last seen the princess.

"She was in the castle last time we saw her," Kreature said.

"Then she left," Krash added.

"I don't know why she left," Og went on. "Maybe she just needed fresh air…or maybe it was from that note she got."

Kreature and Krash abruptly looked at their chunky colleague. Saria had a feeling that they were just learning of this now.

"What note?" Kreature asked, sounding a bit miffed.

"Is there something you're not telling us, Og?" Krash asked, feeling annoyed.

Og thought about it. "You mean I didn't tell you guys? Zelda got a note the other day and then she quickly left. She didn't even bother telling anybody, I guess."

"You green goofball!" Kreature chided. "Why didn't you tell us this before?"

"Maybe it just slipped my mind," Og said. "But she got it a few weeks ago."

"And the castle's been in an uproar ever since?" Saria asked.

"That's right," Krash responded. "They've been running around like cuccos with their heads cut off."

"Do you have any idea where she might have gone?" Malon asked.

Kreature shook his head. "Not a clue. We were just about to ask Link to go find her."

It was Malon's turn to shake her head. "Can't do that. Link's missing too. That's what we wanted to talk to Zelda about."

"Link's gone too?" Krash gasped. "He can't be gone. He's supposed to stop THAT!" He pointed up to the sky again.

"Relax, guys," Saria tried saying. "We'll find him and we'll find Zelda. We're not going to let that moon crash. You just stay here and try to keep some order."

"Lizards keeping order," Og chuckled. "That'd be a first."

"Ignore this scale-brain, Saria," Kreature cut in. "We'll keep everything calm on the home front. Just go find the princess or these guards will literally tear the castle down trying to find her."

"Thanks. We'll find her."

Turning around and walking out, Saria was approached by an unnerved Malon.

"Ok, there's no Link, no Zelda, and a giant moon is about to destroy the world. Now what do we do?"

"Until we find Link, it's up to us," Saria said valiantly. "We're going to have to find Majora's Mask ourselves. But to do that, we may have to search all of Hyrule…"

Saria looked at the sky one more time.

"…Before it's too late."


*-See 'A Place Like Home…?'


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