Part Two

By Jive Maxwell

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

(The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, Western Ocean.)

In a display of magical lights and a high-pitched whistling

sound, Link appeared, followed by Sora.

They were standing in ocean waters, just a short distance

away from a sandy beach.

"A few more feet and we wouldn't have had to get wet,"

Sora said with a sigh.

Link stared up at him.

"But I don't mind;" Sora added quickly. "I like the ocean.

Where are we? This doesn't look like my island."

Link looked around and recognized the foreign shore.

"Great Bay Coast," he said to Sora. "The Western Ocean."

"Have you been here before?" Sora asked.

Link nodded, then raised his Ocarina to his lips and played

a strange song.

"What's that called?" Sora wanted to know.

"The New Wave Bossa Nova." Link said proudly, holding

up the Ocarina as if to show him. "I just remembered it;

Now Mikau is coming."

"Who's Mik-"

There was a sudden splash as something exploded from

the surface of the water; Sora ducked, expecting the worst:

sharks, moray eels, tidal waves, giant sea witches...

"Little dude!" said a watery voice. "You're back! Didja

come to see the band?"

Link shook his head.

Sora jumped when he saw who- or what- Link was talking

to; a whitish being with blue spots on his back and

shoulders, webbed hands and feet with a fin on the back of

his head was standing where the eruption had taken place,

looking like he had once belonged to a zoo.

"Didja come to save us all again then?" the Zora asked.

Link nodded. "I have to find the Keyhole."

"You mean we," Sora said, with a wide smile.

"Who's your friend?" Mikau asked.

"Sora," Link said crossly.

"Yeah, uh, hi! I'm Sora," Sora chuckled, getting over his

shock and reaching out to shake Mikau's hand. He put his hands

behind his back to brush off a few crusty scales.

"Do you know where we might find someone who would

know about the Keyhole?" Sora asked.

"You should try Kafei;" Mikau suggested. "Little dude from

Clocktown is always out studying the 'geolgy'; I think that's

what he says it is."

"Uh, thanks for the tip," Sora admitted. "Hey, Link, do you

know where this Clocktown is?"

Link nodded, put the ocarina to his mouth and played

another song.

"So...heh heh," Sora said nervously. "Who's coming

now?"

"Epona."

There was a distant neigh, followed by the sound of

hooves, and then Link's horse, Epona, approached, racing

across the sandy beach.

Link waded through the water to meet her. He waved to

Mikau and Sora, and then rode away.

"HEY!" Sora yelled, running after the smaller boy. "WAIT!

We're supposed to be a team!"

After finally catching up to Link and a short, uncomfortable

ride to Clocktown, Sora found himself following Link through the

strange little place called Clocktown.

It reminded Sora a bit of Traverse Town, the first world

other than his home that he had visited.

Link went to a building with a sign that read: 'Stock Pot Inn'.

"Link, come on," Sora scowled. "This is no time for a nap!"

Link shot Sora a glare and knocked on the door. Sora was

beginning to get the feeling that Link didn't like him much.

"We closed 10 minutes ago!" someone called from inside.

Link knocked again.

A young girl opened the door.

"Hi, I'm Sora," Sora said, blushing. "Sorry, my friend here-"

"Link!" the girl cried happily. She grabbed Link in a warm

hug. "I'm so glad to see you again! Hello, uh, Sora, is it? I'm Anju.

Won't you come in?"

"Kafei," Link said simply.

"You, too?" Anju sighed. "Now that my husband is their

size, all the kids- the Bombers, and the other town children,

keep asking for him to come out and play. Well, he's not here,"

Anju said crossly. "And I don't think it's fitting for a grown man

in a child's body to play with children. He should be out working

like other men. In fact," she added proudly, "he's out working

right now, studying the ruins in Ikana Canyon. Though I don't

know what he sees in that creepy place. He keeps babbling

about some secret 'Keyhole' he's been researching. I think he's

been expecting you, Link."

Link and Sora gasped and, for the first time, smiled at each

other.

"Let's go!" Sora cheered, walking away, with the idea of

returning to Epona. Link grabbed his wrist to stop him and

held up his ocarina.

"This way is faster," he said, playing an exciting tune.

"Oh...okay," Sora said, thinking he was getting the hang of

this ocarina business. "Who's coming now?"

"No one;" Link answered, "we're going."

"Huh? How? Where?"

Sora's questions were answered abruptly. Link grabbed

Sora's hand, huge wings sprouting from his back, and, in a

flurry of feathers, they disappeared.

"AAAHH!!" Sora yelled in frustration. "Warn me before you

play another crazy song, will you?!"

"Alright," Link said with a quick nod.

"Where are we?"

"Ikana Canyon: Stone Tower Temple- LOOK OUT!"

"Wha-?"

Link shoved Sora out of the way suddenly, and both boys

fell to the floor. A shadow grew large where Sora had been

standing, and suddenly a giant hand hit the floor, scrambling

toward them.

Tangled in each other, they were hopeless to escape, and

they might have gotten badly hurt but then,

"BEGONE!"

A small, purple haired, red-eyed boy drove back the

creature with a quick blow from his large dagger.

"It's been a while, hasn't it?" he smiled at Link.

Link nodded.

"Hang on a minute," Sora said. "Are you Kafei?"

"I am, and you must be Sora."

"How did you know?" Sora wondered, taken back.

"I've had visions of your coming," Kafei explained, walking

deeper into the temple with Sora and Link close behind. "Sent to

me by princess Zelda of the other world herself. As there

was little time for you to search for the Keyhole yourselves

upon your arrival here, she asked me to commit a search

on the subject, as I am a well-known archeologist- or perhaps

the only one. But what interesting results! My studies here have

taught me that the Keyhole you seek lies somewhere within

Castletown. Can you imagine? The heart of the world, right

under people's noses all this time and no one's noticed it. It

must be quite well hidden. Well, I've no time to chat; I must finish

the rest of my studies before nightfall."

"Why before nightfall?" Sora asked.

"The darkness will approach at nightfall, threatening to

consume everything at midnight, exactly as it did once before."

Kafei picked up a lamp and began to read faint writing on the

walls of the temple. "It, too, seeks the Keyhole, but for it's own

foul purposes. And besides, I want to get home in time for

supper; Anju is a terrible cook, but she gets horribly upset if I'm

late for supper."

"Who's behind all of this?" Link asked, speaking more

words than usual in his interest. He had long ago learned that

there was a source behind all evil, and often it wasn't exactly as

it first appeared.

"I'll have to get back to you on that one, Link," Kafei said

absently. "But it's likely that you'll find out before I do anyway."

Sora and Link stayed beside Kafei, protecting him from

temple monsters while he continued his research well into the

night. They went outside now and then to escape from the dry

temple air, and noted nervously that there wasn't a single star or

even the moon out tonight, though Kafei told them it was

supposed to be clear.

"I've found it!" Kafei said at last, so that all three of them,

even Kafei himself, jumped in surprise. "Listen to this:

'Forged before the world began to grow and hidden by

early man, the gate to the heart now lies forgotten within the

center of the world, so that we look at it everyday but never

notice its quiet existence.' Oh," Kafei sighed. "That's all it says.

I hate guesswork. Ready to take a chance, boys? We know it's in

Clocktown somewhere, but what's something we look at

everyday?"

They were silent with thought.

"How much time do we have left?" Sora asked after a long

moment.

"Time!" Link said suddenly.

"Huh?"

"Oh, right!" Kafei laughed. "Everyone looks at the time!

The Keyhole must be near the clock tower!"

"Alright!" Sora cheered.

"But that reminds me," Kafei gasped. "It's nearly midnight!

You two must hurry! Use the Ocarina!"

"What about you?" Sora asked.

"Don't worry about me!" Kafei laughed. "Just hope that

Anju didn't wait up for me. She's more dangerous then any beast

in here."

Link nodded in agreement.

"Well, okay," Sora said reluctantly. "Take care of yourself

then."

"You, too." Kafei nodded. They headed outside, and Link

raised the Ocarina once more, playing the same song as last

time. Sora willingly took Link's hand, and then they vanished,

leaving Kafei alone.

A three-tailed, yellow fox trotted over and sat by Kafei's

side.

"My my, we're in good hands, aren't we?" the fox asked.

"Yes, I believe so, Keeton," Kafei replied.

"Now, in case you've forgotten, there's someone waiting

for you," Keeton said with a smile.

"Who?" Kafei wondered. "Oh wait! Are you talking about

Anju? I'm late! She'll have my head! I'm so late!"

Kafei took off running to the sound of Keeton's merry

laughter.

(The Temple of Time)

"Do you have it?" Zelda asked anxiously as soon as they

arrived.

"Yup!" Sora said cheerfully, raising Link's arm to show her

the pulsating red gem in the boy's hand.

Zelda sighed with relief.

"That's great! Now quickly- open the gate to the heart of

Hyrule: the Door of Time!"

"Right!" Sora nodded. He drew his Keyblade, pointed it at

the stone wall behind the pedestal and gave it a twist. The Door

of Time was suddenly wrenched open, and Link ran in and put

the Heartstone inside.

He returned looking triumphant.

"Good!" Zelda cheered, clapping. "Now that the hearts of

Hyrule and Termina are combined, the two worlds will become

one!"

They climbed up the bell tower to take a look, and saw

Death Mountain and the Northern Mountain together in the

distance.

"But what about my island?" Sora asked worriedly.

"Don't worry," Zelda assured him.

"We'll save them all," Link agreed.

To be continued...

JM: Dude, Mikau's hot.

Sora: ...

JM: Please review.