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. Do not forget to R & R!


Chapter 40

"Malon, how long have I been out?"

Malon didn't know how to answer that question. After all, she just stumbled on Zelda and had no idea when she was abducted.

"I'm not sure," the farm girl answered. "Why do you ask?"

"Because the moon wasn't THAT close when I left," Zelda said apprehensively.

It was true. The moon was just about ready to strike Hyrule and when it did, it would bring Armageddon with it. There wasn't much time left and now Malon was ready to panic. There was still no sign of Link anywhere. And if that guy who abducted him and Zelda was already out of Kakariko Village, then it would be too late. There would be no way to save Hyrule before the moon collided.

Just then, a rope fell in. Malon and Zelda looked up to see the familiar head of Saria. Someone else stuck his head in too. It was an auburn haired man who looked familiar to Malon. She remembered seeing someone like him when she was in the parallel Hyrule. But then a third person stuck her head in. It was…Saria?

"Malon, are you coming?"

Malon shook her head and realized that Zelda was already out of the grave. The farm girl gripped the rope tightly and started climbing out. When she was out, she looked at the two mirror versions of Saria. The one in the pink dress looked so familiar. It hit Malon almost immediately. That was the princess of the parallel Hyrule…but that couldn't be right. That was impossible.

"There…are two of you," Malon finally said.

"I think we should explain," the Forest Sage responded.

It took a while to explain. The Forest Sage still had trouble understanding it herself. Seeing her parallel self here was so unexpected and Saria was still left in shock. But she explained her reason for being here. She knew that the guy who was causing all this was from Princess Saria's world.

A few minutes into the explanation, Princess Zelda asked the first question. "What did this guy look like?"

Princess Saria sighed. "I actually didn't know what to look for myself. I had a vague description. I knew he wore a black Hylian soldier's uniform and had a bald head and a goatee."

"Wait," Pofrigitio suddenly said. "I think I saw someone by that description. He was in the potion shop just now."

"I had a feeling that was him," Princess Saria said. "But somehow, you and your wife had the craziest idea that I lost my memory. It was as if you knew me."

The Forest Sage Saria looked up at Pofrigitio. She knew exactly where he would get such an idea. It looked like he and his wife still cared about her, long after she left their lives.

"It was a mistake," the Forest Sage sighed. "He…thought you were someone…he cared about."

Silence. It was an awkward moment, Saria knew that much.

"Where did you see the guy last?" Malon finally asked.

"He's been here for a few days now," Po answered. "He's been staying in the old House of Skulltula. Nobody knows why. Everybody's frightened about that dusty old shack."

"Then we have to hope he's there right now," Saria said boldly. "He'll never see us coming."

"But this guy isn't exactly a pushover," Zelda pointed out. "He's a pretty big guy and I don't think he'd have anything against knocking off four girls. He doesn't seem like he's all there upstairs."

"We have to try," Malon declared bravely. "I have to find out what this maniac and his accomplice have done with Link!"

"Then maybe I can help," Po offered. "I think I can create a diversion. But we can't waste any time." He looked up at the sky. "Because there isn't much left."


Chapter 41

Saria waited on the roof of the House of Skulltula. She knew this was the perfect place for an ambush. So she and Malon volunteered to do the deed, while her parallel self and Princess Zelda covered them from outside. It was all up to Pofrigitio.

The potion shop owner knocked on the front door. When the bulky bald man answered the door, that was their cue to enter. Seeing a hole in the roof and still holding that rope, Saria and Malon quietly slipped in.

"What do you want?!" the man asked roughly.

"I-I-I have the potions you wanted," Po said nervously.

"You trying to cheat me again?!" he demanded.

Saria saw the big man was wrapped up in his conversation with Po. So she grabbed a nearby pot and handed it to Malon.

"N-No," Po went on. "We just got a new supply in and…I wanted to…apologize by giving this to you…for free. It's complimentary."

"Complimentary?" The man repeated. He grabbed the potion and studied it. "You better not be cheating me, or I'll make you regret it."

There wouldn't be any better opportunity. Malon winded up and shattered the pot over the guy's bald head. To Saria's dismay, it only served to get his attention. The man abruptly turned around and grabbed Malon tightly by her arm.

"Well, look at this," the man grinned sinisterly. "I guess I didn't HAVE to look for the third one of you."

"Let her go!" Po shouted.

The sinister man took action quickly. A stiff side kick knocked Pofrigitio to the side. He still had Malon by the arm. Saria had to do something. She grabbed another pot and tried shattering it over the guy's back. But that had no effect on him, either. He turned around and grabbed Saria by her green hair with his free arm.

He laughed wickedly. "Hey, I got lucky! The last two on my hit list came to ME. Now I can have my revenge the way I intended it."

"I wouldn't do that."

The man looked outside the open door. There was nobody there. Then, the sinister man was suddenly looked down to see a rope being tied to his ankles.

"What is this?!" he cried out.

"Payback!"

The man looked up to see Princess Zelda right in his face. In a shocking twist, she curled up a fist and punched the man right in his face. It clearly caught him off-guard and knocked him backwards, loosening his grip on Saria and Malon. Zelda telepathically moved the rope to tie up his arms so he couldn't move.

Saria didn't know what happened, but she could take a guess. Sure enough, out of thin air appeared Princess Saria, her parallel self. It still amazed her every time to see her use that power of invisibility that the Kokiri of her world possessed.

So this was it. This man who came all the way from Princess Saria's world for some kind of revenge was now subdued. Finally, the time was here for answers.

Princess Saria bravely approached this sinister man. "Now it's time you tell us what we want to know."


Chapter 42

The man was seemingly unshaken, as could be seen by his laughter. "So you want to know some answers. What makes you think I'll tell you anything?"

"Because you're in no position to refuse!" Princess Saria shouted.

Zelda finally asked the burning question. "Who are you?!"

"You want to know who I am?" the man asked. "I'll tell you. In front of me, I see three girls who left me a beaten man. Three girls who ruined an elaborate plan to bring me power. You want to know who I am? I'll tell you. The name's Drax."

The Forest Sage continued the line of questioning. "I don't get it, Drax. What are you talking about? What do you mean we're the one's who ruined your plan? All we did was save your world from a falling moon."

"Wrong!" Drax shouted. "You didn't JUST stop a falling moon. In the process, you also ended what should have been my rise to power. And you did that by ending the Hylian Civil War."

Saria seemed confused. "I still don't get it."

"Of course you don't," Drax began. "It's so elaborate that no one could understand it the first time around. You see, I'm not dressed like this because I went to a costume shop. I'm dressed like this because I was a leader. I was a leader in the Frihad army. But I could have been much more than that. I was a popular leader too. Much more popular than our leader, Malon. So it would only be a matter of time before I would remove Malon as our leader…through foul means, maybe, but she would be removed. And I would take control.

"Then there was the next part of my plan. If there was one thing both sides of this war could relate on, it was our hatred for the ruling Kokiri. So I would use my power to rally the Hylians against them and the Kokiri would be overthrown. And once they were overthrown, I would assume the throne and become Hyrule's new king.

"But things didn't work out that way. You see, I couldn't even get past phase ONE because the war suddenly came to a screeching halt. I couldn't take control of our Hylian faction because the war ended. And because the war ended, I lost my position and I couldn't rally the Hylians against the Kokiri, thus my plan of taking the throne was ruined. And who was it that ended the Hylian Civil War, thus foiling my plans? It was YOU!! You three girls from another world, who didn't know when to mind your own business, and your little friend, the hero, stopped the war.

"So I knew what I had to do. I had to make you pay. But how could I do that? It was simple. I saw the damage that Majora's Mask could do, so I decided to find a way to get into this world and find the Majora's Mask in this Hyrule. It was easy enough to find. It was stuffed in an empty Happy Mask Shop. So I grabbed it and took to my next task, and that was finding you four…starting with the hero."

Malon listened in horror and emotionally asked the next big question. "What did you do with Link?! Where is he?!"

Drax just flashed an evil grin and remained silent.

"WHERE?!"

Nothing. He wasn't talking.

"Maybe your accomplice will know," Princess Saria tried saying. She was trying to coax the information out of Drax. "And if I were you, I'd tell us where he is, because that moon is about to make contact in less than a few days. I'm sure he wouldn't want to take you down with us."

Drax burst out in laughter. "Accomplice? What makes you think I'm working with anybody?"

"You talked about Majora's Mask," Zelda clarified. "But you're not the one who's wearing it, so obviously you have an accomplice. Who is it?"

"Oh, this is sweet," Drax said darkly. "It's amazing to know that you can't see it. Even after all this time, you can't see who's wearing Majora's Mask."

"Who is it?" Zelda asked again.

Drax let out a dark chuckle. "Why don't you ask…the hero?"

"But you're the one who's holding him!" Malon shouted.

"You still don't get it, do you?" Drax growled.

"I think I do," Saria suddenly said.

Everyone looked at the Forest Sage in anticipation. They wanted to know what the maniac, Drax, was talking about. Saria knew, though, and if it was true, then their one hope may have gone down the drain.

"What does he mean, Saria?" Malon finally asked.

"It's him," Saria said somberly. "The one wearing Majora's Mask is…Link."


Chapter 43

Everyone was shocked at the sudden realization that Saria made. For everyone, it was a nightmare. The moon was falling down towards Hyrule…and the one causing it…was Link.

"How…did Link get Majora's Mask?" Malon asked.

The Forest Sage looked sternly at Drax. "I think you know that answer."

"It was perfect," Drax said. "I knew that if I tried to destroy this world with Majora's Mask, there would be one person who could stop me. I knew it when I saw him take down the wizard and the mask, back when the Hylian Civil War was ended. He would be the one to try and stop all this. And the legend has it that the mask is uncontrollable, no matter how strong anyone was, the mask would always bend the wearer to its will. Oh, but I had a way to prevent all that. There would be no way for the hero to stop me…if he was the one who was causing everything.

"And to do that, all I had to do was stop for directions. I asked for directions to the ranch while I was at the Gerudo's Fortress. It was a stormy night by the time I got there, but it didn't matter. I saw the boy outside, out in the open. So with nobody around, I knocked him out and I slapped on Majora's Mask. He never saw it coming."

Saria looked back at everybody else. She couldn't say anything. The worst was already confirmed. The moon was hours away from crashing down on Hyrule and the Hero of Time couldn't save them. Saria felt like giving up, but she knew she couldn't afford to. She couldn't just let this be the end. There had to be some way. Then it hit her.

"If that's true," Saria began. "Then it's all up to us."

A beat.

"We're going to have to save Hyrule ourselves," the Forest Sage continued. She looked back at Drax. "Where is he?"

"I don't know," Drax growled. "After I took out the princess, he just left. I don't know where he went."

The Forest Sage Saria couldn't give up. There would be only one person who might know where Link was.

"Where do you think he is?" Saria asked Malon.

Malon hung her head down. "If Link's wearing Majora's Mask, then he could be anywhere." Then she put her head up. "But if I remember the story, then he might be at the highest place he can be."

"But where's that?" Princess Saria asked.

"Only one place," Zelda said. "Death Mountain."

Knowing where to go now, the four girls were ready to go. Just then, Pofrigitio finally made his way back inside. He was still clutching his ribs from the power of that kick Drax gave him. The Forest Sage walked up to him.

"Are you all right?"

Pofrigitio smiled faintly. "Just a little winded, but I'm fine." He looked at the subdued Drax. "I see you've got him. Did he tell you everything?"

"Unfortunately, yes," Saria breathed grimly. "Call someone to take him to the dungeon in the graveyard. We have to go."

"Where are you going?" Po asked.

The Forest Sage took a deep breath and shrugged. "To save Hyrule."


Chapter 44

Sodo finally got into Kakariko Village. It took a while to get in without being seen. Being seen was definitely a bad idea, knowing how the Hylians feel about Kokiri. The young boy was ready to give up. Finding Saria didn't seem to matter anymore. So what if Ganondorf was released? It wouldn't matter anymore. The moon seemed ready to crash in a matter of hours.

The only thing left to do was find Saria and spend these last few hours with her…assuming she was ok. If he knew Saria as well as he thought he did, he knew that Pofrigitio would know where she was. Luckily, he found him standing by an old shack.

Sodo slowly approached him a cleared his throat. "Uh…Po?"

Pofrigitio turned around and was more than surprised when he saw a Kokiri boy standing there. What surprised Sodo was that he recognized him.

"You…you're one of them," Po exclaimed. "You're one of the 12 I helped a long time ago.*"

"I'm surprised you remember me," Sodo confessed. "But…you probably know I'm not here for a social call. I need to ask you something important."

"What is it?"

"I know this sounds weird," Sodo continued. "But have you seen Saria around?"

Po didn't say anything, but just looked up in the sky. "She's going up to Death Mountain…she's going to try and stop the moon from falling."

Sodo grew wide-eyed at that. "Death Mountain?!"

"She just left about ten minutes ago," Pofrigitio added. "But…hey, wait!"

Sodo didn't waste any time. He ran straight for the nearest exit and prayed he could catch Saria before she got to Death Mountain. If he knew her, she would be more than willing to sacrifice herself to save Hyrule. He couldn't let her do that…alone.

This was it. This was probably the biggest moment in Saria's life…and she's had quite a few. At least she wasn't alone on this one. She had Malon, Princess Zelda, and her parallel self at her side. But it didn't make their upcoming task any easier. If it were any other person wearing Majora's Mask, they might have been up for this. But this wasn't any other person. The one they were trying to stop was their friend, Link.

But they knew this wouldn't be the same Link they would confront. This Link was under the influence of Majora's Mask and its evil magic. The mask wouldn't hesitate to take any of them out.

The mask was known for corrupting good souls, just like in the legend. The legend that spoke of Majora's Mask and its corruption of the innocent Skull Kid. Then Saria remembered. She remembered that there might be one thing that could help them all.

"Malon?" she suddenly asked.

"Yes, Saria?" the farm girl asked anxiously.

"There's one thing I have to ask before we face…"

Silence.

"What is it?" Malon asked softly.

"How did the story end?" the Forest Sage asked. "How did Link defeat Majora's Mask once and for all?"

Malon clearly wasn't ready for that question and when she saw that Princess Saria and Princess Zelda were intrigued by the question, she knew what she had to do.

She would tell the final details of Link's time in Termina.


*-See 'The Search for 12'


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