The Mask of Majora - Chapter 4: Memories of Princess Zelda
A cool, gentle breeze prodded Link to open his eyes. Taking in a deep breath, his eyes adjusted to the bright atmosphere around him. He floated on what felt like the middle of a cloud; white enveloped the wide open place like a cotton field. The air smelled of fresh flowers... no disquieting noises, no flaws; all was peaceful in this pastel space. All negative and foreboding thoughts felt so far away...
It was almost heaven...
He softly hummed a strong, foreign melody. He did not know how he'd come up with such a charming tune in one sitting, though... it had just come up to him. Putting his hands on the back of his head, he lay down on the soft cloud with a broad smile and inhaled the sweet fragrance. Whether this was a dream or not, it was still the most relaxing experience he has surveyed for months. He closed his eyes and continued to hum this alien melody.
How he wished this dream would never end...
And yet...
He watched hopelessly as the scene burned away, flames licking away the clouds and seeing charred buildings in their place. Link got up and hopelessly ran from the fire, looking for an escape. But this time, he did not see the citizens of Termina, but the people back in Hyrule he knew and loved.
Link could only watch as his friends suffered before his very eyes. The flames materialized into fiery monsters that burned the precious grass they would step upon.
Saria being dragged into the Zora River. Malon being engulfed into the fiery beast's throat. His Kokiri friends... all screaming out to Link.
They scream for his help...
Encased in a ring of fire, Link cringed and fell to his knees, unable to look any further. Without his weapon... without his fairy... he felt so feeble. He shut his eyes tightly, but the screams ringed at his ears.
"LINK! HELP US!!"
Falling into a heap on the burning ground, he covered his pointed ears. Unwanted tears escaped from his eyes and his knees loomed up to his chest. "Oh, Goddesses! Make it stop! Please!!" he cried.
Darkness engulfed his senses...
Over the debris, hovered a mask...
A mask...
That mask... it was so familiar...
Something awoke him from his nightmare. He could not tell what it was... for the children were screaming, and the guards were ushering families through the path whilst screaming out orders to the retreating townsfolk. And this was just in the most passive place in town. Link was swept off the ground and out from under his concrete shelter by an unforeseen tremor that shook the entire town. Yelping in surprise, he rolled down the small grassy hill and landed at a guard's feet.
"Young Scrub!! Where are your mother and father?!" the guard cried out to Link over the frightened screams of the townsfolk. "You must find them and leave this town at once!!" With the blunt end of his spear, he pushed back a little girl trying to make a run to the exit. "You cannot leave without adult supervision!"
At the same time as the young girl pleaded to the guard to let her through, Link backed away and broke into a sprint, bumping into numerous people and families on the process. They were pushing and shoving each other all the way to the exits that lead to the widespread Termina field. Tatl stayed as close as possible to Link in hopes no one would try to swat her away like a bug. Her fairy wings grew pained and exhausted when finally they were both away from the swarming crowd.
"What's going on with everyone?? What did I miss?!" Link cried out to Tatl.
The girl fairy snorted slightly. "You must be blind or something-- the target is pretty much hard to miss," she said sardonically and she pointed to the sky above.
The sky was growing from light blue to pitch black by the second. Unnatural clouds surrounded the town in a circular motion like if they were magnetically brought to the source of heat. And right in the middle of it all was Termina's moon; no long a sphere in the horizon, but a boulder many times the size of the town, just miles away from crashing onto the Clock Tower. Link had never witnessed something so aberrant and frightening... especially in such a place. He staggered back, not in fear but in disbelief.
This really was the last day...
Another horde of people pushed by the scrub, mostly pointing at the moon and confused as to whether or not it was going to fall on top of them. Grown-ups complained as they left their homes and their shops behind.
"DAMN YOU, GODDESSES!! WHY DO YOU WISH TO ANNIHILATE US?!?!" one of them shouted towards the heavens.
Not sure he could sustain anymore, Link made his way to East Clock Town, constantly stumbling on his small feet. He thought he could not be any more shocked but the new scene proved him wrong. As they entered the East gate, he saw the place absolutely deserted. The once busiest place in town and it was completely empty. Even Tatl looked shaken up. "Looks like everyone's fleeing to the mountains up North..." she muttered. "Maybe we should go as well... I doubt Skull Kid would want to stick around to have a giant rock smash onto his face."
"No," Link said. "I'm going to stand my ground. And I know Skull Kid is standing his ground as well." Crestfallen, he turned to look at the fairy. "Even if he did leave, I can't. You heard that guard. I can't escape town without an adult. Unless..."
"Unless what??" Tatl blurted the question in curiosity. Link trotted down the stone steps that led to the entrance of the Stock Pot Inn. "You're gonna get Anju to get you out of town?! That's crazy talk!!" Link ignored her while she continued to yammer on about something. But just a few feet away from the door to the inn, he stopped. It turns out the town wasn't so deserted after all. The familiar looking figure of a child was crouched down in front of the door. Apparently, it looked like he was trying to slide something under it with his left hand while pushing back his blue hair bangs away from his vision.
"That's the kid from last night!" Link realized a little too loudly. The boy stood up and faced the deku; his Keaton mask still covered his face. His emotion was not very apparent, but he stepped back like if he was in shock of being discovered. Not thinking about last night's mistake, Link approached the boy. "Who are you and what are you doing with--?" his sentence was cut off once again as the boy forcefully shoved Link against a wall a made a run for it. He disappeared when turning the corner and heading towards the South gate.
"Whoo... that's one abusive track-star kid," Tatl commented. Out the corner of her eye, she spotted something lying on the floor. She glided down to it and peered in interest. "Hey, that kid dropped something! Looks like a letter."
Link -still rubbing his head, mind you- picked up the letter from the floor and brushed away the dirt from it. It was a burgundy envelope with fine golden detail at its edges. The package looked quite expensive-- even for a child. Link flipped it over and read the inscription in the front.
'To Anju, From Kafei,' it read.
Kafei? Link squinted apprehensively at the letter. Who the hell was Kafei? Tatl sighed in exasperation and strived to get Link's attention once again. "Just leave it on the floor-- Anju will find it," she said. "After all, it is for her."
"But I wanted to ask her--"
Link covered his ears (or lack of ears) at the hollow ringing of the town bell. It rang six times, indicating it was now six 'o clock. Night was nearing and at every second glance, the moon appeared to be much, much closer.
((Hours Later))
"Don't you get it?!? The moon is going to fall any second now!! You have to leave town before something bad really DOES happen!!" Link cried in dismay to a guard who worked in the gates of South Clock Town. Unlike the guard up north of the gate, this man refused to abscond his position.
He shook his head. "Even if such impossible surmise were to take place, I will not flee from my line of duty. On the other hand, you should have left town along with the others!"
Defeated, Link shuffled away sadly and sat on the wooden bench nearby. He had a clear look at the Clock Tower from his seat, but the colorful scene looked joyful no more. The scene was dark and foreboding. His yellow eyes shifted from the stubborn guard to the festival tower right before him. It was said this tower was built every year at the carnival and it would contain a bridge that the people would cross and enter the Clock Tower from. But this year, there laid an uncompleted festival tower without any steps to ascend or bridge to cross. All of the workmen had fled the town in fear. All except the leader of the workmen, Mutoh...
"My apprentice would be disgusted with you all!!" he had yelled at them when they took their leave. "Disgusting cowards!! All of you!!" he turned his head upwards to the sky. Well, the sky was no longer visible... now the moon had taken over the town's line of sight and the blue, star-filled firmament was no more. Mutoh seethed at the sight. "Blasted moon!! You have ruined it all! If you're going to fall, fall already, dammit!" he blurted out with pure hate. "To hell with you all! I'll have a fine carnival without you!"
As if on cue, another tremor shook the settlement as the moon neared the earth even closer. Link gripped the sides of the bench to keep from falling on his face. Another minute closer to midnight. The door to the Clock Tower would open soon. Link shuddered as he looked on ahead to these foolish people that wouldn't take their leave. They just couldn't see the danger in this.
"If only I was my true self again, I bet they would listen to me..." he muttered to himself sadly. If he did get his ocarina back from the Skull Kid, he might have a chance to get back home on time; but what about the citizens of Termina? It hurt the young boy's heart to see these men having to suffer such a death. The images of his nightmare flashed through his mind. The land would be no more if this were to happen. Link did not know why... but he felt responsible for it...
CLANG!
The bell resounded, signaling the coming of midnight. And along with the indication came another tremor. Link had gotten used to them, for they had been coming in frequently since he had awoken that morning, but this one shook him and everyone else out of balance. Fireworks for the carnival filled the landscape with light. But they went unnoticed by anyone. Craning his neck up to see, Link sighed in conquest when he saw the tower's door flew open, now accessible and its stairs led to the rooftop. There was just one little problem...
"Um... how are you going to get up there?" Tatl asked him. When she didn't receive an answer, she grew panicked all of a sudden. "Oh, Goddesses! You dim-witted kid!! You should have thought of a straight-forward plan first! Now how are we going to get to Tael?! I mean, you knew that we were going to..." she saw Link was no longer listening, but talking to someone else. A deku scrub merchant, to be exact. She began listening in at the middle of their conversation.
"Please, I will not be claiming it as mine-- I just need it to get to the top of the Clock Tower," Link said, talking about the large, yellow deku flower that the merchant was standing on. The deku merchant's eyes had widened when hearing the child's request.
"Young Scrub, that is no place for you to go unsupervised... especially with such events happening now," he said slowly. But unable to give in to the child's pleading stare, he stepped aside and let the boy climb onto the large flower. "Make it quick," he mumbled at Link, cautiously looking over at the guard.
Link bowed his head in thanks and dove into the flower with haste. Catapulting out of it, he was launched into the air and right over the base of the Clock Tower entrance. Parachuting down softly, he let go of the deku flowers and landed right in front the entrance. He smiled slightly, "I'm never going to get tired of that," he said to himself. Taking in a deep breath, he ran up the stairs expecting the unexpected. The way to the top of the Clock Tower was short, but unnerving... kind of like Ganon's Tower forward in the dark years in Hyrule. At these late hours, he'd expect the weather to be colder the higher he ascended. Yet it was getting warmer by each step he took up the stairs.
A wide open room with outlandish designs on its floor was the end of the mounting path. The room's walls were short and it had no roof, so there was a very clear look at the sky above. Pillars outstretched past the walls with the same strange décor the boy saw at his feet. At first, Link thought he was lost, but Tatl flew before him and looked up. Sure enough, there was the masked Skull Kid, still with Link's ocarina in his hand and carelessly lobbing it as if it were some kind of toy. This angered deku Link even more as he stared daggers through the forest child. Right in the middle of this staring contest, an indigo light flew from behind Skullkid. It was Tael, making himself known.
"Sis!" the fairy cried out to Tatl, quite joyously.
Tatl beamed at him and she let out a sigh of relief, glad that they were able to catch up to them on time. "Tael! We've been looking for you two!" she turned to the Skullkid, who was still lobbing the ocarina with his left hand. "Hey, Skullkid, what if you gave that mask you're wearing back now? Huh?" Skullkid said nothing. Under his mask was an unnoticed smirk. Tatl began to grow impatient. "Hey, c'mon, are you listening?" she said louder.
Link was growing tired. He took a step closer and spoke up. "Look, this isn't funny anymore, Skull Kid. Just give me back the ocarina and I'll pretend this never happened, okay?"
The Skullkid gasped dramatically in mock shock. "He speaks!" he said histrionically before he broke into another sickening stream of giggles. "And I thought your vocal chords had left along with that midget body of yours. Nice voice, by the way."
Clenching his fists, Link took a couple of steps closer to the hovering Skullkid, but Tatl 'stood' in front of him and prevented Link to come any closer. Link shot the masked imp another hateful glare. "That moon... do you have anything to do with the fact that it's falling?" Link asked calmly, but irately.
The Skull Kid crossed his arms over his chest the moment Link mentioned the moon. After long second of silence, Skull Kid leaned his head down a bit towards Link. The mask's ominous green-yellow eyes seemed to stare right through the child in an inhuman way. "What if I am...?" he said slyly.
Tael felt the tension in the room and started to feel weary. Growing nervous, the little boy fairy knew that this was no game anymore. There has to be someone that can stop this from going any further. He hovered in front of the imp and spoke to his sister and Link. "Swamp. Mountain. Ocean. Canyon. Hurry... the four who are there! Bring them here--"
About to finish his sentence, the Skull Kid grew angry and callously smacked the fairy away like if it were an insect. "Don't speak out of line!! Stupid fairy!!" he growled at Tael. Tael shook in fear and kept his silence, afraid this might get worse.
Tatl gasped. He had gone too far this time. "No!! What are you doing to my brother?!" she said in a mix of bewilderment and anger. "Skullkid, do you think you're still our friend after that?!?!"
Link heard the Skull Kid scoff. "Whatever. Even if they were to come right now, they wouldn't be able to handle me..." Link lowered his head. This was too much for him to take. Just who are they talking about anyway? What four? "Just look above you," he added, speaking of the moon beyond their heads. It was now so close to the ground that it might as well be the roof of this open room. Link shrank back, starting to feel its heat.
"If it's something that can be stopped, then just try and stop it!"
Raising his meager arms over his head, this forest child who would look no more than a peaceful creature let out a yell of command to the heavens. And when Link even thought it would be completely impossible, the moon began to loom over to Termina even faster. Several miles over the very tip of the tower, the moon instantly erupted into fiery flames. The explosion was so near the youngsters that both Link and SkullKid were shoved to the ground. The Skull Kid lost his grip on the ocarina and the frail instrument slid across the floor.
Link's gaze followed the ocarina and back to the flaming moon. The whole town was quaking, the town bell rang violently and the large bricks of this strong tower began falling apart like a child's building blocks. Link skillfully rolled out of the way of the falling debris, but he knew sooner or later the room he was in himself would crumble below his feet. On all fours, he carefully crawled towards the ocarina, which was now dangerously close to the edge of a humongous fissure on the floor. He didn't know what worried him more in that second-- the thought of losing his most precious possession, the safety of this entire land of Termina, or the fact that he might just burst into inferno at any second.
Tatl dodged brick after falling brick as she searched around frantically, scared for her little brother. "TAEL! WHERE ARE YOU?!?" she hollered over the noise. She thought she might die of fright at the moment and out the corner of her eye she spotted Link, his hand outstretched to his royal blue ocarina.
Link's sweat from both heat and anxiety poured down his face. He was so close... his arm shrunk back when a brick as large as he was fell riskily close to his head and he heard another explosion from above. He was afraid to look up, for he knew it wasn't a pretty sight. He outstretched his hand again, inches away from his beloved instrument.
...just a bit farther...
...you can do it, Link...
The Goddesses... they are with you...
The ground shook fiercely and the ocarina toppled over to the fissure on the ground.
"NOOOO!!" Link screeched and jumped after it. He made a grab for it in midair with his right hand and shakily held on to the edge of the fissure with his free hand. With much struggling he finally pulled himself up and to the floor. He held the ocarina close to his chest fondly; the moon's blazing shell just miles away from him was momentarily forgotten. Tatl flew down next to him and the little girl fairy smirked.
"Not bad for a deku scrub," she muttered, not loud enough for the boy to hear. "Now, please!! Help me find my brother!!" she said, this time at earshot.
But Link's mind was in another matter. As he held his ocarina, floods of memories with this instrument ran through his head. He remembered... speaking to Princess Zelda of Hyrule just days before he returned to Kokiri Forest...
If something should happen to you, remember this song...
The Goddess of Time is protecting you...
When you play this song... she will aid you...
Link opened his eyes with hope. 'That song... how could I have forgotten...?'
Suddenly aware that Tatl was screaming at his ear, he glanced at her in bewilderment. "Snap out of it, you!" she screeched "Getting that old ocarina back isn't gonna help us!!"
Link ran towards the tower's stairs, knowing if he stayed one more second in this zone, he'd be dead. He looked back briefly; the SkullKid was nowhere in sight. This unnerved him strongly, but having no time to dawdle, he ran down the dark staircase, only to find that it was blocked by a barricade of fallen stone. Behind him, another barricade formed and it was quite obvious now he was stuck. Tatl shook with fear and yelled out in vain.
"Somebody! Anybody!!! Goddesses, help us please! We need more time!!!"
...more time...
The young boy looked down at his ocarina. 'That song... Nayru, please help up...'
With that last thought, he pulled the ocarina up to his face and closed his eyes in concentration. As he held the ocarina, something about it felt strange... and different. Opening his eyes, he beheld that his beloved instrument has takes the form to suit a deku child. Tatl gasped loudly. "Huh?! Wh-- when did you get that instrument?!" she asked. In Link's arms was now a large mouth organ, also referred to as the Deku Pipes.
Tatl could only stare in uncertainty as to why this kid was playing music at this moment. The pull of the moon caused the hallway's roof to open up over them and Tatl once more faced the gruesome face of Termina's moon. But that song... in some unexplainable way, it brought peace to the fairy.
Was this melody the key to saving them?
If it was, it seemed as if it was a bit too late. As the boy played its last note, the blazing firewall met his level. Link fell back to the floor... someone called his name in worry. His feeble body was burning; he could not get up... he could not run away. So he lay still, accepting that this was his time.
He felt himself being lifted up by the moon's pull. It was a wonder why he was still alive. Link's eyes remained shut when a strange feeling overcame him. He was no longer burning. The dreadful sounds were gone. The screaming, the collapsing structures, the roaring fires... all gone. Was he alive...?
Or was he...?
He dared to open his eyes. He was still there. The moon was inches away from his body. What had happened? Did time just... stop? The pain slowly began to crawl back through his veins. Running away was no option, for he was frozen in time as well.
Panic....
Darkness...
Then light... blessed light...
To Be Continued...