The Shadow Temple was the highest building in the shadow land and the second tallest feature of the dark world. It was also the best defended of all the temples in Hesra. Before reaching the temple itself, enemy armies would have to pass through two walls and a moat. The walls were easily eighty feet high and sixty inches thick. The wall was about four hundred yards long with a tower, made of reinforced steel incased in stone, at every twenty yards. The second wall was a hundred yards shorter on all sides, but it was virtually the same. The moat, filled with acid rather than water, was a mere ten feet wide. The disciples of the shadow did not worry though: no one had ever made it past the first wall.
The temple itself was very simple. The front of the temple consisted of a large wooden door, several windows and two cathedral towers. The rest had the appearance of a typical parish church.
Upon entering the doors, a visitor (more likely a prisoner) would enter a large open hall, with a red carpet leading to a flight of stairs that went down. The carpet was flanked by candles and pillars.
But the stairs led to the true source of terror. Descending one flight of stairs would bring a visitor to a large cavern. This is where the Black Warriors were trained. And it was usually swarming with these hideous creatures. They would be constantly developing their skill with the sword, spear or bow. Many of the warriors perished during the training. But where one fell, three took its place.
The cavern, though a meeting room for all the passageways that led to the dorms, the kitchens, the meal-halls, the prisons and other rooms, was not the important room. In the center of the cavern there was a door that opened to a flight of stairs. Descending these stairs led to where the shadow orb resided. This room had been recently redecorated to become a throne room as well.
The shadow orb lay on its pedestal next to the new throne. But there was another orb in the room, one that allowed anyone to see anything within the boundaries of the shadow. Majora himself created the orb of sight, justly named, during his reign. It was with this orb that Ganondorf saw Oni Link cross the boundary between light and shadow.
"He's coming." The Gerudo king said.
"I know." A raspy voice said from the throne.
"Alone." Ganondorf added.
"I would have not expected anything else." Ganondorf remained silent for a moment. He walked to one of the walls furthest from the throne.
"I hate him." He whispered to the ground emotionlessly. His hands turned into fists. They trembled with fury.
"I hate him!" his bellowing cry shook the room. He punched through the stonewall. A large part of it fell away revealing one of the dorms. The Black warriors in that room were huddled in the opposite corner, trembling with fear.
"You never cease to amaze me." The voice said, "Even without your precious triforce, you still posses incredible power."
"I would be more powerful if we were still together." Ganondorf said, pointing at the creature. It laughed, startling the king.
"You fool!" it yelled, "You made me more powerful. You gave me the strength I needed to break out from that accursed mask. Alone now, I could have defeated us without taking a hit. And with the orbs, I am more powerful than Oni Link and his triforce." Now, it was Ganondorf's turn to laugh.
"You have no idea the extent of the triforce's power. I managed to touch it when it was whole once. The surge that swept through my body was like nothing I had ever felt before. It was more than when I wore you."
"More?" the creature asked.
"Yes." Ganondorf replied with an evil smile, "And now it is combined with the full power of Link and this land's hero Oni. What makes you think you stand a chance against that?" Ganondorf was hoping the creature would fuse with him. Once fused, the Gerudo was sure he could subdue it and control the ultimate power.
But then it rose to its full height, scraping the ceiling. It let the long tentacles attached to its wrists drop to the floor. The mask had now become a head. The spikes covered the top of its head. The body that it grew for itself was human in form (a strong human at that) but its skin was blue and purple. Both hands and feet had long, razor-like claws.
This was the true, original form of Majora. This was what approached Ganondorf and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"I shall give you an idea." The demon said. Ganondorf knew what this meant and tried to break the demon's grip. He was too slow: the demon tightened its grip, crunching the Gerudo's armor and shoulder. As he yelled in pain, Ganondorf was lifted off his feet. Majora then threw the man through the ceiling. It threw with so much power that Ganondorf broke through hundreds of feet of dirt. Black warriors patrolling the walls were stunned to see something break out of the ground and fly high over their heads.
Ganondorf was amazed that he was still conscious. He was also amazed that Majora had so much power. The Gerudo knew that Majora needed him no more. That was why he had thrown him away. The demon thought he was trash.
When he finally hit the ground, he made a small crater. Still conscious, Ganondorf stood up and saw he was a fifteen-minute walk away from the castle. He was convinced that Oni Link stood no chance against that creature. Ganondorf felt the full extent of Majora's power when the hand had touched his shoulder. It was greater than that of the triforce.
"Too strong." He said, "How can he be so powerful?" he hollered. His head suddenly felt light. Ganondorf dropped to the ground, clutching his broken shoulder. When his dizziness had passed, he rose to his feet and turned to walk away.
Instead, he came face to face with Oni Link.
"We have to help him." Zelda pleaded to the other sages.
She had summoned them to the Sacred Realm soon after she had her dream. She wanted to get through the explanations as quickly as possible. But Raru told her that they all had felt it too. The power that stretched across the waters; it was impossible to ignore.
After she made her demand, silence reigned. The princess looked at each of the sages in turn. Raru, the sage of light, wise and powerful, his pale blue eyes a window to the horrors and the delights he had seen, sighed deeply. Darunia, strong and loyal, opened his Goron mouth to say something, but shut it, shaking his sandy man. Impa, caring and determined, stood with her arms across her chest, trying to hide how much this situation pained her. But Zelda saw the torment through the Shiekah's red eyes. Nabooru, cunning and resourceful, turned her brown eyes away when the princess looked to her. Zelda was surprised to see tears streaming from the blue eyes of the noble and proud Zora princess Ruto. A sob escaped from the lips of the innocent and trusting Saria. She shut her eyes, trying to hold back the tears.
Zelda knew then why they were shedding tears for tears came to her eyes.
"No." she sobbed.
"We have to." Raru murmured.
"You can't kill him!" the princess cried.
"We can and we must." Raru said calmly yet hesitatingly, "I wish there were some other way but there isn't any."
"No!" Zelda yelled, falling to her knees in tears. "There has to be some other way!"
"Ah! But there is my lady!"
"Who was that?" Darunia asked.
"It sounded familiar." Ruto said, wiping away her tears.
"It sounded like Count Secras." Said Zelda.
"That it is!" the voice cried. And floating above the sages' heads was the ghostly figure of the count.
"How is it you come here?" Raru demanded.
"How is it you're here at all?" Saria asked, not being as accustomed to seeing spirits as Raru was. But then again, Raru admitted that was the better question.
"I will gladly answer your questions so long as ye resurrect me." He paused but not long enough for anyone to answer him, "I was kidding. Come now, can't ye tell I was being sarcastic?"
"Not really, seeing as we tend to believe that evil ghosts can be sarcastic." Nabooru replied.
"I take offense to the evil part, maiden." The count said.
"Maiden?"
"It's the same as my lady." The count explained. Nabooru nodded that she understood.
"This is irrelevant." Raru said, giving a stern look to Nabooru. "How is it that you are a ghost? And how were able to enter the Sacred Realm? There only eight people who can enter here: the seven you see here and Link."
"Please, calm yourself." Secras said. "I understand that I have not been the most friendly of guests. Therefore, I would like to start my tale from its very beginnings. Then we can move on to more serious matters."