Majora: How it Really Happened!
CHAPTER SEVEN: THE CURSE BROKEN? -Or- THE DEKU PALACE DISASTER
(Erik's POV)
"Stand back over there by the counter, please," Kotake said.
I took a deep breath and sighed. Could this be it?
"Erik, you're shaking!" David said.
"Huh? Oh, just nervous," I replied.
"Is this good?" Kelli asked.
"Fine, thanks," Koume said.
"OK, Koume. Let's get started!" Kotake suggested.
"Fine, Kotake."
The two witches stood behind the potion counter and scrolled down the page.
"Hold onto your hats!" they both screamed.
Then, the two witches waved their hands around, and said a strange chant. Purple smoke appeared near our feet and swirled around.
"COUGH! COUGH!" we all hacked.
Then everything kind of went blank. I could sense what was going on, but I couldn't really tell where I was. I could still hear a garbled coughing next to me, David perhaps? Maybe Kelli...
Suddenly, the smoke faded and I looked around. Koume and Kotake had shocked faces, like something had happened.
"WE DID IT!" they both shouted, and they began dancing around.
"You did?" Kelli cried.
I looked down to my left quickly. A small Deku scrub was jumping around.
"WHAAAAA?" I said. I looked to the right. David, as a Zora was there.
I looked at my hands. A Goron.
"What are you talking about?" I cried. "You didn't do anything! I'm still a Goron!"
"And I'm still a TWO FOOT TALL PIECE OF WOOD!" Kelli screamed.
"Huh? Well, yeah," Koume said. "We just cured your curse,"
"No you didn't!" David said.
"Yes we did, you fools!" Kotake cried. "Look at your eyes!"
I looked at David's. They looked the same as they had the very first time I had seen him as a Zora.
"So?" we all echoed.
"We cured your curse! So, no matter how long it takes you to turn back to humans, you'll stay just as human as you are now. No losing your memories, no eating rocks or worms, and no losing your English ability!" Koume explained.
We stared at the twins blankly for several minutes. David was the first to speak.
"And I suppose we should be grateful for that?"
"Well, yeah." Kotake said.
"Oh, thanks a lot!" Kelli shouted.
"What? If you're going to be sarcastic, then..." Kotake began.
"NO! I mean it!" Kelli said. "This is a lot better!"
"Well, um..." I started.
"What, are you disappointed?" Koume asked worriedly.
"We kinda wanted to turn back into humans!" I explained.
"Oh." Koume and Kotake said.
"Well, why didn't you say so in the first place?" Kotake laughed.
"Let's look it up!" Koume suggested.
The witches turned to the "T" page for transformation.
"Let's see... Tetanus... Tight clothes... Terrible... Terrible breath... Terrible looks... Ah, Transformation!" Kotake read.
"Oh dear," Koume said.
"What?" David asked worriedly.
"Oh, nothing. It's just a general transformation spell, no real specific anything," Koume remarked.
"Gee, Koume!" Kotake said. "Y'know... we'd better think twice before trying this... our last few attempts didn't turn out too good..."
"That's right..." Koume pondered. "I mean, I don't suppose there's anything much worse than being turned completely inside out..."
None of us could stop ourselves from half-screaming.
"Er, maybe we'd better not even try..." David started.
"Maybe we should try it out on someone first!" I suggested jokingly. I was looking straight at Kelli.
"Good idea! We'll try it on you," Kotake cried.
"HUH? ME? WHY ME?" I yelped.
"Because, it WAS your idea!" Koume said, as if she was stating the obvious. "And besides, it's easier to change a Goron into a human than anything else. You practically are human, aside from the fact you eat rocks and you roll down cliffs!"
I groaned reluctantly as Kotake leaped over the counter and pulled on my arm.
"Come on! Over here!" she said.
David and Kelli ran behind the counter and Koume pulled up some stools for them.
Kelli was actually too short to see over the desk, so she hopped onto its surface and took a seat next to the spell book.
Meanwhile, Kotake was taking measurements, and believe me, it's HARD to hold two 50 pound arms up in the air for over 5 seconds.
"Let's see... chest, 68 inches," chuckled Kotake. "Waist 53... All right Koume, let's get started!"
Koume read a line out of the book out loud, and then her hands started to glow red. "SWEET!" she shouted. "OK, hold onto your butt!"
"Good luck, Erik!" Kelli called.
"Yeah, nice knowing ya!" David laughed.
She snapped her fingers, and I was surrounded by red smoke. A feeling like that of a strong static shock ran through me, and when the smoke cleared, I was taller and lighter.
"WOW! Am I..."
I looked at my hands. Blue, scaly, and fins attached.
"Um, I'm a Zora..." I said.
"Hey, looking good!" David said.
"Let's try again!" Kotake said.
Koume snapped her fingers, and the same thing happened. This time, I was MUCH smaller. Kotake's nearby foot looked like a giant building.
"HEY!" I screamed. "WHERE DID EVERYONE GO?"
"Oops," Kotake said, looking at me with her huge eyes, even larger in my condition. "You turned him into a termite!"
Koume snapped her fingers again. This time, I was taller, but also down on all fours.
Kelli burst out laughing. "Hey David, I'd say he looks a little more like how he usually acts!"
I looked down and saw hooves. I was a donkey.
"Haha. Very funny. Haha, it is to laugh," I groaned.
After a couple more snaps, I had ended up as a Deku scrub, a frog, a pig, and finally a duck.
"Ooh, a duck!" I said, a little more sarcastically than I had meant to. "Maybe I can go out and play in the swamp!"
"Shut up and stop moving around!" Koume said. She snapped again.
I was tall. I was light. I looked at my hands. HUMAN SKIN! I WAS ME AGAIN!
"No, no! Koume, stop!" I screamed. "I'm..."
POOF!
I shrunk again, into a mouse.
"Uh... whoops," Koume said.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHOHOHOHOOOOOOO!" I cried. "I WAS THAT CLOSE! WAAAAAAAAA!"
"Quick! Do it again!" Kelli and David yelled.
"I can't!" Koume cried. "There's no real clarification on the specifics of how to turn something human! I'll just have to keep changing you until you turn human again!"
"Well... All right," I said. "How long could it take?"
NIGHT OF THE FIRST DAY: 60 HOURS REMAIN
"HOW LONG HAS IT BEEN?" Kotake whined. "6 hours? And you still haven't turned him human again!"
"I'm trying, OK?" Koume said.
"Well, it shouldn't be long now!" Kelli said hopefully.
"Come on... just snap your fingers again!" I yelled.
Koume did so, and I was in a familiar large heavy body.
"I'M A GORON AGAIN! YIPEEE!" I screamed.
"Good! Now only a few more times!" David cried.
Koume snapped her fingers seven times, and finally! I was human again!
"STOP! STOP!" I cried. "OK... That's better!"
I reached into my pocket. My map, my money... everything was there! I pulled out my map and looked over it happily. My clothes were normal, and my face looked like it always did in the mirror in the back of the shop.
"PHEW!" I said happily. "At least that's over!"
"Um... kid?" Kotake mumbled.
"Yeah?"
"Something's wrong!" she shouted.
I looked down. The same strange waves that we had seen Skullkid use to trigger the fall of the moon were surrounding me.
"Huh? What's going on?" I asked.
"Erik, hold still!" David cried. "What if..."
But before I could say anything, I was hit with an extreme pain in my head. I dropped the map in surprise.
"Erik! Erik, are you OK?" Kelli cried.
But I hardly heard her. I yelled in pain and fell over.
It was the same dream I had had at the very beginning of all this madness.
Screaming... falling... falling down a long tunnel... Gorons! They're all around me! I run... I run... but now... I trip, and I wake up.
I opened my eyes. Kotake, Koume, Kelli and David were all staring at me with shocked looks on their faces.
"Oh my dear three golden Goddesses of Hyrule!" Kotake and Koume screamed at once.
"Erik! You're... You're..." Kelli and David cried.
I sat up and moaned.
"I'm a Goron again!" I cried.
I let out a scream of frustration and threw myself on the ground, shaking the cottage.
"My gracious!" Kotake said. "That Skullkid... He... he's immensely powerful to be able to do this!"
"I'm sorry, child..." Koume apologized. "Even we haven't the power to undo this!"
I wailed and banged my head into the floor. Kelli and David stood up and kneeled next to me.
Kelli was dismayed. "There isn't anything you can do?"
"I'm sorry, no." Kotake said.
David sighed. "Thanks anyway."
"Well, can't say we didn't try!" Koume sighed.
"Is that it? Aren't we going to try again?" I said desperately.
"The same thing would happen!" Kelli said. "And besides, I'm not waiting another four hours."
"Hmm... if only that child Link was here!" Kotake pondered. "Then he could play that powerful song..."
"I heard him saying he was going to the Deku Palace," Koume said.
"Deku Palace? Come on, let's go!" I said, snapping out of it immediately.
"But... there's no way for you to get there without a boat!" Kotake said.
"OF COURSE!" Koume cried. "I work at the boat cruise dock! I could loan you a boat!"
"Really?" David said happily. "Are you sure?"
"It's the least I could do for you, you poor children!" Koume said.
"It really means a lot to us!" Kelli said.
Outside the cottage, Koume and Kotake helped me to reach the bottom of the ladder. David untied the boat, and we all hopped in.
"Thanks again, you two!" I called.
"Don't mention it!" Kotake said.
"Goodbye kids!" Koume cried. "Good luck! And remember..."
"Should you ever need some magic help anywhere in the world..." Kotake began.
"CALL THE TWINROVA SISTERS! WE'RE YOUR GIRLS!" they both cried. Then, they burst into giggles.
"Those were the weirdest old ladies I have ever seen!" David said, shaking his head as we rode away.
"Calm down!" Kelli said. "Gee, it's not like they'll ever come to Hyrule or anything."
"I don't know..." David said. "They just seem kind of... weird."
"Don't be ridiculous David!" I said. "They're just a couple of sweet old ladies. They're not raising any evil children bent on taking over the world, or anything like that!"
After about fifteen minutes, we had turned into an unfamiliar section of the swamp. There were large red palm trees all around, and a huge tree-like tower was just to our right. A thick cloud of gray smoke was set in a ring above it.
"That must be Woodfall," Kelli said, pointing to the many waterfalls that streamed down its side.
"Very nice," I murmured. "Now, where is that Deku Palace?"
David pointed to a dock set next to a tunnel that went through a tree, and we tied up the boat and went through the tunnel.
"WOW!" we all cried as we came out. In front of us was a huge castle, entirely made out of trees. The turrets, the bridges, everything was wood! Two large Deku Flowers were set near the door to the castle, and we could hear the melody of some strange kind of pipes there.
"Let's go," David said, stepping onto the narrow bridge. Actually, it was pretty wide for Kelli, but the way it creaked and groaned under my weight, I was a little uneasy.
When we reached the other side, two Deku scrubs, much larger than Kelli, popped out of the flowers and stared us in the face.
"(SQUEAK!) I've never seen you around here, young Deku child!" one of them said.
"Well, I'm from out of town," Kelli said coolly.
"(EEEEEP!) In that case, you have no business here! This is the palace of the great Deku King! It's no place for outsiders! (SQUEAK!)"
"Oh, (squeak) I'm just coming to pay my respects to the great king!" Kelli said, attempting to mimic their squeaky way of talking that she had been so good at when she had lost her English.
"Hmmm... Well, I suppose you (HEEEEP!) can visit the royal chamber... And to see that fool monkey!"
The two Deku guards stood out of their flowers and motioned down a long corridor into a dark room.
"THAT (SQUEAK!) is the King's royal chamber. Do not enter any other areas whatsoever!"
Then, they stepped to one side and Kelli passed through the door.
David and I nodded and started to walk after her, when the two guards leaped in front of us.
"HALT! (EEEEEP!) Where do you think you're going?" the first guard snapped.
"Oh, oh, they're with me!" Kelli said, quickly rushing to our rescue.
"I TOLD YOU!" the second guard said. "This is no place for outsiders! This Palace is for Deku and diplomatic sentries ONLY!"
"We are diplomats!" David said quickly.
"A ZORA diplomat? I don't think so!" the first guard said icily.
"And how did you, a GORON get through the swamp?" the other guard said suspiciously.
"I don't think they're (EEEEP!) diplomats at all! Access denied! The girl scrub may go, but you two have to stay!" they both said at once.
Kelli sighed and crossed her arms.
"Look boys... I've been here in Termina for THREE DAYS already... and I kid you not, all three of those days have SUCKED big time! And I am NOT in the mood to screw around right now! So you either let me and those guys through RIGHT NOW... or I will TEAR EVERY SINGLE LEAF OFF OF THAT TINY WOODEN HEAD OF YOURS!"
The guards looked at each other.
"Well! That's quite different!" the first guard said crisply.
"Go right on ahead! I'm sure the King will welcome a visit from another race or two!" the second one said quickly.
"ENJOY YOUR STAY!" they cried, then they popped back into their flowers.
Kelli clapped her hands and made a gesture.
"Please, walk this way!"
Upon entering the throne room, we found a group of Deku Scrubs crowded around a large scrub on a platform. He had a huge bulbous... um, bulb on his back, and held a large scepter.
"That monkey is a traitor to the Deku Empire! He has kidnapped our sweet tiny princess and taken her away where we will never seen her again!" the King cried.
"Yeah! (SQUEAK!) Boil him in oil!" the other scrubs cried.
The King continued. "That monkey has taken our dear beautiful little princess and who knows what he has done with her? Pulled off her leaves? Carved her with a knife? Even..."
The scrubs sat up in anticipation.
"Even set her on fire!"
The scrubs screamed and shuddered at the awful possibilities, and a terrified squeak was heard from the left side of the room.
"No! No! I didn't so anything! I SWEAR!" a monkey (who was obviously 'the traitor') yelled. He was tied to a pole with strong rope, and a pot with hot oil was burning in a fire pit in the center of the room. "The princess is safe! I know it! I didn't set her on fire or anything!"
"Then where is she, you stupid monkey?" the King cried.
"We went into the Woodfall Temple! She led me there, and then a monster came and..."
"AHA!" the King screamed, as if he had gotten an amazing idea. "Only Deku Royalty can enter the sunken temple at the top of the waterfall! You obviously captured our sweet young princess, and used her to learn the ancient melody that opens the temple so you could steal the ancient Deku secrets inside! Then you ATE HER!"
"ATE HER? I would never! The princess told me about the temple and..."
"I have heard enough!" the King cried. "Quickly! Get that cauldron ready!"
We looked around the room for a scrub that looked at all like Link in his Deku form.
"WHAT? Who are you? What are you doing in our palace with those... those things?" the King cried, pointing a finger at Kelli.
"Your highness, I was let in!" she said. "So were these two things!" she said, pointing at us.
"What are you doing here?" the King shot back.
"I... uh... I... I came to see that awful monkey who kidnapped our princess!" she screamed, suddenly enthusiastic.
"YES SISTER!" a young Deku screamed from the corner.
"And what are THEY doing here?" asked the King angrily. I knew he meant us.
"Well, uh... They're with me!" Kelli said, trying to explain.
"So you brought them in?" the King asked.
"Well... yeah?" Kelli squeaked.
"GUARDS! Get those things out of my palace this instant!" the Deku King ordered. "And throw that young Deku girl in there with the monkey! She is trying to lie to us!"
"WHAT?" Kelli cried as two Deku guards grabbed her. "I..."
"You know the rules! No other races in MY palace! We'll punish you later!" the King said. "More than likely you are in with that awful monkey, and you helped him kidnap my darling princess!"
"AAAAAAAAAACCK!" she screamed, as they dragged her across the room.
"KELLI!" David cried. But we were being ushered towards the door by a group of scrubs.
"GRRRRR! Let me go!" I yelled, pushing the small wooden creatures away from me.
"OUCH! His body is like that of a stone!" one of the scrubs cried.
"And this one is as slippery as the skin of a fish!" another said of David.
"I don't care. Just get them out, and put that girl in my dungeon with the monkey!" the King cried.
And before we knew it, we were outside the palace, and the two guards up front had stood up blocking us again.
"HAHAHA! (SQUEAK!) I told you that you weren't allowed in!" one shouted.
"HAHAHA! And this time, that (HEEEEP!) tough little scrub isn't with you!" the other finished. Then, the guards dissolved into giggles and popped back into their holes.
I sighed and kicked a bit of dirt I found at my feet.
"Aw MAN! What worse could have happened?" David said, trying to hide his anger.
"We have to help Kelli! And what about Link? We still have to find him!" I reminded him.
Suddenly, another small monkey like the one inside the palace dropped down next to us. "You see brother inside?"
"Huh, your brother?" David said.
"Brother monkey! Scrubs capture, think he took princess. Me see from above throne room, you sister stuck in there too?"
"Yeah!" I said, hardly understanding what the monkey was saying.
"Me know way into cage! You help sister, help brother too?"
"Um, sure!" David replied.
"Go to outside palace garden, over there. Hole up on top, fish man can help rock man get up! Go in, through tunnel, path goes into cage!" the monkey babbled.
"OK, I think we got it!" I said, nodding at the monkey.
The monkey grinned, and pointed over to where the outer garden began. "Cross over on lilypads!" the monkey said. "Bye-bye... Good luck saving sister and brother!"
Then, the monkey hopped off.
And if you REALLY,REALLY want to know all about our crossing the pads, the bruises on my legs can tell you sometime, if you want to know. But the important part is now, when we reached the hole.
"Help me up, David!" I said, pointing at the hole.
"OK, just get down right here..." David said. He hoisted me up and grunted.
"Oh MAN Erik! How much do you weigh now, 600 pounds?"
"Less talking, more lifting!" I said, and I almost reached the hole.
Just as I was about to grab the ledge, I heard a small voice from below say, "Hey, what exactly are you doing?"
David cried out in surprise and dropped me. I landed right on top of him. "OOF!" we both cried.
I looked up to see a small boy with a green tunic and a green hat standing there.
CHAPTER SEVEN: THE CURSE BROKEN? -Or- THE DEKU PALACE DISASTER
(Erik's POV)
"Stand back over there by the counter, please," Kotake said.
I took a deep breath and sighed. Could this be it?
"Erik, you're shaking!" David said.
"Huh? Oh, just nervous," I replied.
"Is this good?" Kelli asked.
"Fine, thanks," Koume said.
"OK, Koume. Let's get started!" Kotake suggested.
"Fine, Kotake."
The two witches stood behind the potion counter and scrolled down the page.
"Hold onto your hats!" they both screamed.
Then, the two witches waved their hands around, and said a strange chant. Purple smoke appeared near our feet and swirled around.
"COUGH! COUGH!" we all hacked.
Then everything kind of went blank. I could sense what was going on, but I couldn't really tell where I was. I could still hear a garbled coughing next to me, David perhaps? Maybe Kelli...
Suddenly, the smoke faded and I looked around. Koume and Kotake had shocked faces, like something had happened.
"WE DID IT!" they both shouted, and they began dancing around.
"You did?" Kelli cried.
I looked down to my left quickly. A small Deku scrub was jumping around.
"WHAAAAA?" I said. I looked to the right. David, as a Zora was there.
I looked at my hands. A Goron.
"What are you talking about?" I cried. "You didn't do anything! I'm still a Goron!"
"And I'm still a TWO FOOT TALL PIECE OF WOOD!" Kelli screamed.
"Huh? Well, yeah," Koume said. "We just cured your curse,"
"No you didn't!" David said.
"Yes we did, you fools!" Kotake cried. "Look at your eyes!"
I looked at David's. They looked the same as they had the very first time I had seen him as a Zora.
"So?" we all echoed.
"We cured your curse! So, no matter how long it takes you to turn back to humans, you'll stay just as human as you are now. No losing your memories, no eating rocks or worms, and no losing your English ability!" Koume explained.
We stared at the twins blankly for several minutes. David was the first to speak.
"And I suppose we should be grateful for that?"
"Well, yeah." Kotake said.
"Oh, thanks a lot!" Kelli shouted.
"What? If you're going to be sarcastic, then..." Kotake began.
"NO! I mean it!" Kelli said. "This is a lot better!"
"Well, um..." I started.
"What, are you disappointed?" Koume asked worriedly.
"We kinda wanted to turn back into humans!" I explained.
"Oh." Koume and Kotake said.
"Well, why didn't you say so in the first place?" Kotake laughed.
"Let's look it up!" Koume suggested.
The witches turned to the "T" page for transformation.
"Let's see... Tetanus... Tight clothes... Terrible... Terrible breath... Terrible looks... Ah, Transformation!" Kotake read.
"Oh dear," Koume said.
"What?" David asked worriedly.
"Oh, nothing. It's just a general transformation spell, no real specific anything," Koume remarked.
"Gee, Koume!" Kotake said. "Y'know... we'd better think twice before trying this... our last few attempts didn't turn out too good..."
"That's right..." Koume pondered. "I mean, I don't suppose there's anything much worse than being turned completely inside out..."
None of us could stop ourselves from half-screaming.
"Er, maybe we'd better not even try..." David started.
"Maybe we should try it out on someone first!" I suggested jokingly. I was looking straight at Kelli.
"Good idea! We'll try it on you," Kotake cried.
"HUH? ME? WHY ME?" I yelped.
"Because, it WAS your idea!" Koume said, as if she was stating the obvious. "And besides, it's easier to change a Goron into a human than anything else. You practically are human, aside from the fact you eat rocks and you roll down cliffs!"
I groaned reluctantly as Kotake leaped over the counter and pulled on my arm.
"Come on! Over here!" she said.
David and Kelli ran behind the counter and Koume pulled up some stools for them.
Kelli was actually too short to see over the desk, so she hopped onto its surface and took a seat next to the spell book.
Meanwhile, Kotake was taking measurements, and believe me, it's HARD to hold two 50 pound arms up in the air for over 5 seconds.
"Let's see... chest, 68 inches," chuckled Kotake. "Waist 53... All right Koume, let's get started!"
Koume read a line out of the book out loud, and then her hands started to glow red. "SWEET!" she shouted. "OK, hold onto your butt!"
"Good luck, Erik!" Kelli called.
"Yeah, nice knowing ya!" David laughed.
She snapped her fingers, and I was surrounded by red smoke. A feeling like that of a strong static shock ran through me, and when the smoke cleared, I was taller and lighter.
"WOW! Am I..."
I looked at my hands. Blue, scaly, and fins attached.
"Um, I'm a Zora..." I said.
"Hey, looking good!" David said.
"Let's try again!" Kotake said.
Koume snapped her fingers, and the same thing happened. This time, I was MUCH smaller. Kotake's nearby foot looked like a giant building.
"HEY!" I screamed. "WHERE DID EVERYONE GO?"
"Oops," Kotake said, looking at me with her huge eyes, even larger in my condition. "You turned him into a termite!"
Koume snapped her fingers again. This time, I was taller, but also down on all fours.
Kelli burst out laughing. "Hey David, I'd say he looks a little more like how he usually acts!"
I looked down and saw hooves. I was a donkey.
"Haha. Very funny. Haha, it is to laugh," I groaned.
After a couple more snaps, I had ended up as a Deku scrub, a frog, a pig, and finally a duck.
"Ooh, a duck!" I said, a little more sarcastically than I had meant to. "Maybe I can go out and play in the swamp!"
"Shut up and stop moving around!" Koume said. She snapped again.
I was tall. I was light. I looked at my hands. HUMAN SKIN! I WAS ME AGAIN!
"No, no! Koume, stop!" I screamed. "I'm..."
POOF!
I shrunk again, into a mouse.
"Uh... whoops," Koume said.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHOHOHOHOOOOOOO!" I cried. "I WAS THAT CLOSE! WAAAAAAAAA!"
"Quick! Do it again!" Kelli and David yelled.
"I can't!" Koume cried. "There's no real clarification on the specifics of how to turn something human! I'll just have to keep changing you until you turn human again!"
"Well... All right," I said. "How long could it take?"
NIGHT OF THE FIRST DAY: 60 HOURS REMAIN
"HOW LONG HAS IT BEEN?" Kotake whined. "6 hours? And you still haven't turned him human again!"
"I'm trying, OK?" Koume said.
"Well, it shouldn't be long now!" Kelli said hopefully.
"Come on... just snap your fingers again!" I yelled.
Koume did so, and I was in a familiar large heavy body.
"I'M A GORON AGAIN! YIPEEE!" I screamed.
"Good! Now only a few more times!" David cried.
Koume snapped her fingers seven times, and finally! I was human again!
"STOP! STOP!" I cried. "OK... That's better!"
I reached into my pocket. My map, my money... everything was there! I pulled out my map and looked over it happily. My clothes were normal, and my face looked like it always did in the mirror in the back of the shop.
"PHEW!" I said happily. "At least that's over!"
"Um... kid?" Kotake mumbled.
"Yeah?"
"Something's wrong!" she shouted.
I looked down. The same strange waves that we had seen Skullkid use to trigger the fall of the moon were surrounding me.
"Huh? What's going on?" I asked.
"Erik, hold still!" David cried. "What if..."
But before I could say anything, I was hit with an extreme pain in my head. I dropped the map in surprise.
"Erik! Erik, are you OK?" Kelli cried.
But I hardly heard her. I yelled in pain and fell over.
It was the same dream I had had at the very beginning of all this madness.
Screaming... falling... falling down a long tunnel... Gorons! They're all around me! I run... I run... but now... I trip, and I wake up.
I opened my eyes. Kotake, Koume, Kelli and David were all staring at me with shocked looks on their faces.
"Oh my dear three golden Goddesses of Hyrule!" Kotake and Koume screamed at once.
"Erik! You're... You're..." Kelli and David cried.
I sat up and moaned.
"I'm a Goron again!" I cried.
I let out a scream of frustration and threw myself on the ground, shaking the cottage.
"My gracious!" Kotake said. "That Skullkid... He... he's immensely powerful to be able to do this!"
"I'm sorry, child..." Koume apologized. "Even we haven't the power to undo this!"
I wailed and banged my head into the floor. Kelli and David stood up and kneeled next to me.
Kelli was dismayed. "There isn't anything you can do?"
"I'm sorry, no." Kotake said.
David sighed. "Thanks anyway."
"Well, can't say we didn't try!" Koume sighed.
"Is that it? Aren't we going to try again?" I said desperately.
"The same thing would happen!" Kelli said. "And besides, I'm not waiting another four hours."
"Hmm... if only that child Link was here!" Kotake pondered. "Then he could play that powerful song..."
"I heard him saying he was going to the Deku Palace," Koume said.
"Deku Palace? Come on, let's go!" I said, snapping out of it immediately.
"But... there's no way for you to get there without a boat!" Kotake said.
"OF COURSE!" Koume cried. "I work at the boat cruise dock! I could loan you a boat!"
"Really?" David said happily. "Are you sure?"
"It's the least I could do for you, you poor children!" Koume said.
"It really means a lot to us!" Kelli said.
Outside the cottage, Koume and Kotake helped me to reach the bottom of the ladder. David untied the boat, and we all hopped in.
"Thanks again, you two!" I called.
"Don't mention it!" Kotake said.
"Goodbye kids!" Koume cried. "Good luck! And remember..."
"Should you ever need some magic help anywhere in the world..." Kotake began.
"CALL THE TWINROVA SISTERS! WE'RE YOUR GIRLS!" they both cried. Then, they burst into giggles.
"Those were the weirdest old ladies I have ever seen!" David said, shaking his head as we rode away.
"Calm down!" Kelli said. "Gee, it's not like they'll ever come to Hyrule or anything."
"I don't know..." David said. "They just seem kind of... weird."
"Don't be ridiculous David!" I said. "They're just a couple of sweet old ladies. They're not raising any evil children bent on taking over the world, or anything like that!"
After about fifteen minutes, we had turned into an unfamiliar section of the swamp. There were large red palm trees all around, and a huge tree-like tower was just to our right. A thick cloud of gray smoke was set in a ring above it.
"That must be Woodfall," Kelli said, pointing to the many waterfalls that streamed down its side.
"Very nice," I murmured. "Now, where is that Deku Palace?"
David pointed to a dock set next to a tunnel that went through a tree, and we tied up the boat and went through the tunnel.
"WOW!" we all cried as we came out. In front of us was a huge castle, entirely made out of trees. The turrets, the bridges, everything was wood! Two large Deku Flowers were set near the door to the castle, and we could hear the melody of some strange kind of pipes there.
"Let's go," David said, stepping onto the narrow bridge. Actually, it was pretty wide for Kelli, but the way it creaked and groaned under my weight, I was a little uneasy.
When we reached the other side, two Deku scrubs, much larger than Kelli, popped out of the flowers and stared us in the face.
"(SQUEAK!) I've never seen you around here, young Deku child!" one of them said.
"Well, I'm from out of town," Kelli said coolly.
"(EEEEEP!) In that case, you have no business here! This is the palace of the great Deku King! It's no place for outsiders! (SQUEAK!)"
"Oh, (squeak) I'm just coming to pay my respects to the great king!" Kelli said, attempting to mimic their squeaky way of talking that she had been so good at when she had lost her English.
"Hmmm... Well, I suppose you (HEEEEP!) can visit the royal chamber... And to see that fool monkey!"
The two Deku guards stood out of their flowers and motioned down a long corridor into a dark room.
"THAT (SQUEAK!) is the King's royal chamber. Do not enter any other areas whatsoever!"
Then, they stepped to one side and Kelli passed through the door.
David and I nodded and started to walk after her, when the two guards leaped in front of us.
"HALT! (EEEEEP!) Where do you think you're going?" the first guard snapped.
"Oh, oh, they're with me!" Kelli said, quickly rushing to our rescue.
"I TOLD YOU!" the second guard said. "This is no place for outsiders! This Palace is for Deku and diplomatic sentries ONLY!"
"We are diplomats!" David said quickly.
"A ZORA diplomat? I don't think so!" the first guard said icily.
"And how did you, a GORON get through the swamp?" the other guard said suspiciously.
"I don't think they're (EEEEP!) diplomats at all! Access denied! The girl scrub may go, but you two have to stay!" they both said at once.
Kelli sighed and crossed her arms.
"Look boys... I've been here in Termina for THREE DAYS already... and I kid you not, all three of those days have SUCKED big time! And I am NOT in the mood to screw around right now! So you either let me and those guys through RIGHT NOW... or I will TEAR EVERY SINGLE LEAF OFF OF THAT TINY WOODEN HEAD OF YOURS!"
The guards looked at each other.
"Well! That's quite different!" the first guard said crisply.
"Go right on ahead! I'm sure the King will welcome a visit from another race or two!" the second one said quickly.
"ENJOY YOUR STAY!" they cried, then they popped back into their flowers.
Kelli clapped her hands and made a gesture.
"Please, walk this way!"
Upon entering the throne room, we found a group of Deku Scrubs crowded around a large scrub on a platform. He had a huge bulbous... um, bulb on his back, and held a large scepter.
"That monkey is a traitor to the Deku Empire! He has kidnapped our sweet tiny princess and taken her away where we will never seen her again!" the King cried.
"Yeah! (SQUEAK!) Boil him in oil!" the other scrubs cried.
The King continued. "That monkey has taken our dear beautiful little princess and who knows what he has done with her? Pulled off her leaves? Carved her with a knife? Even..."
The scrubs sat up in anticipation.
"Even set her on fire!"
The scrubs screamed and shuddered at the awful possibilities, and a terrified squeak was heard from the left side of the room.
"No! No! I didn't so anything! I SWEAR!" a monkey (who was obviously 'the traitor') yelled. He was tied to a pole with strong rope, and a pot with hot oil was burning in a fire pit in the center of the room. "The princess is safe! I know it! I didn't set her on fire or anything!"
"Then where is she, you stupid monkey?" the King cried.
"We went into the Woodfall Temple! She led me there, and then a monster came and..."
"AHA!" the King screamed, as if he had gotten an amazing idea. "Only Deku Royalty can enter the sunken temple at the top of the waterfall! You obviously captured our sweet young princess, and used her to learn the ancient melody that opens the temple so you could steal the ancient Deku secrets inside! Then you ATE HER!"
"ATE HER? I would never! The princess told me about the temple and..."
"I have heard enough!" the King cried. "Quickly! Get that cauldron ready!"
We looked around the room for a scrub that looked at all like Link in his Deku form.
"WHAT? Who are you? What are you doing in our palace with those... those things?" the King cried, pointing a finger at Kelli.
"Your highness, I was let in!" she said. "So were these two things!" she said, pointing at us.
"What are you doing here?" the King shot back.
"I... uh... I... I came to see that awful monkey who kidnapped our princess!" she screamed, suddenly enthusiastic.
"YES SISTER!" a young Deku screamed from the corner.
"And what are THEY doing here?" asked the King angrily. I knew he meant us.
"Well, uh... They're with me!" Kelli said, trying to explain.
"So you brought them in?" the King asked.
"Well... yeah?" Kelli squeaked.
"GUARDS! Get those things out of my palace this instant!" the Deku King ordered. "And throw that young Deku girl in there with the monkey! She is trying to lie to us!"
"WHAT?" Kelli cried as two Deku guards grabbed her. "I..."
"You know the rules! No other races in MY palace! We'll punish you later!" the King said. "More than likely you are in with that awful monkey, and you helped him kidnap my darling princess!"
"AAAAAAAAAACCK!" she screamed, as they dragged her across the room.
"KELLI!" David cried. But we were being ushered towards the door by a group of scrubs.
"GRRRRR! Let me go!" I yelled, pushing the small wooden creatures away from me.
"OUCH! His body is like that of a stone!" one of the scrubs cried.
"And this one is as slippery as the skin of a fish!" another said of David.
"I don't care. Just get them out, and put that girl in my dungeon with the monkey!" the King cried.
And before we knew it, we were outside the palace, and the two guards up front had stood up blocking us again.
"HAHAHA! (SQUEAK!) I told you that you weren't allowed in!" one shouted.
"HAHAHA! And this time, that (HEEEEP!) tough little scrub isn't with you!" the other finished. Then, the guards dissolved into giggles and popped back into their holes.
I sighed and kicked a bit of dirt I found at my feet.
"Aw MAN! What worse could have happened?" David said, trying to hide his anger.
"We have to help Kelli! And what about Link? We still have to find him!" I reminded him.
Suddenly, another small monkey like the one inside the palace dropped down next to us. "You see brother inside?"
"Huh, your brother?" David said.
"Brother monkey! Scrubs capture, think he took princess. Me see from above throne room, you sister stuck in there too?"
"Yeah!" I said, hardly understanding what the monkey was saying.
"Me know way into cage! You help sister, help brother too?"
"Um, sure!" David replied.
"Go to outside palace garden, over there. Hole up on top, fish man can help rock man get up! Go in, through tunnel, path goes into cage!" the monkey babbled.
"OK, I think we got it!" I said, nodding at the monkey.
The monkey grinned, and pointed over to where the outer garden began. "Cross over on lilypads!" the monkey said. "Bye-bye... Good luck saving sister and brother!"
Then, the monkey hopped off.
And if you REALLY,REALLY want to know all about our crossing the pads, the bruises on my legs can tell you sometime, if you want to know. But the important part is now, when we reached the hole.
"Help me up, David!" I said, pointing at the hole.
"OK, just get down right here..." David said. He hoisted me up and grunted.
"Oh MAN Erik! How much do you weigh now, 600 pounds?"
"Less talking, more lifting!" I said, and I almost reached the hole.
Just as I was about to grab the ledge, I heard a small voice from below say, "Hey, what exactly are you doing?"
David cried out in surprise and dropped me. I landed right on top of him. "OOF!" we both cried.
I looked up to see a small boy with a green tunic and a green hat standing there.