Chap. 4
Masks and Ocarinas
"If you really want to understand Majora, you'll have to understand me first." Link began. "Zelda and I come from a dimension called Hyrule. Instead of science, we have magic as our most powerful force. There are several races that live within the land, one of which is the Kokiri, the forest sprites. Now, these sprites have taken the form of human children, and because of their magical properties, they don't age. However, when each Kokiri reaches the proper age, they are given a fairy partner, to aid them throughout their life. But once, there was a young boy who did receive a fairy.. at least not at the same time as the others. The Great Deku Tree, the forest's guardian spirit, sensed there was something special about this boy, and waited to send him his fairy, until it would set forward a series of events forward that would change his life, and the world, forever." At this point, Beast Boy asked, "So who was this boy?" Then realizing everyone was staring at him, he shut up. "But, you're an adult. How did you age?" asked Robin. "I'll get to that soon." Link continued.
"The Deku Tree told me that an evil force was spreading through the land, and that it had even infected him. I journeyed through the tree, eventually destroying the monster that was poisoning him. However, I was too late to save him. Before he passed, he told me to find the Princess Zelda, and gave me the Spiritual Stone of the Forest. I traveled to Hyrule Castle, where I met Zelda, and she told that she too, knew of the evil. It was the Gerudo King Gannondorf, who sought the ultimate power- the Triforce of the Sacred Realm." "Is that like the Evil Realm?" asked Raven. "In a way." Zelda answered. "The Sacred Realm is a holy place, where the essence of the gods resides. The Triforce stands there as a testament to their power, and as a conduit for it. However the Realm is not easy to get to." "The only way I could enter it was to obtain all three of the Spiritual Stones, kept by the Gorons, and the Zoras." Link explained. "But when I go there, I learned Gannondorf had placed demons there, which were giving those races much grief. I managed to defeat them, and obtain the stones. I returned to Hyrule Castle, only to find that Gannondorf had attacked and Zelda had been taken to safety. But she left the final piece of the puzzle behind- the Ocarina of Time. With it and the Stones, I was able to open the Door inside the Temple of Time and get the key to the Realm- the Master Sword." Drawing it form his sheath, he held it out for them to see. "But I was tricked. Gannondorf had known about my escapades and had been waiting for me. When I opened the door to the Sacred Realm, he snuck in and stole the Triforce, while I was placed in a deep sleep."
"I awoke seven years later, in the presence of Rararu, the sage of Light. He explained that in order to become the Hero of Time, I had to leave my boyhood behind. However, in the time I had slept, Gannondorf had taken the Triforce and become the King of Hyrule. He had corrupted the land's Temples and placed demon guardians to block the power of the other Sages. Freeing the Sages was the only way I could gain strength enough to fight Gannondorf. Rararu gave me his medallion and returned me to Hyrule. There, I met Sheik and with his help, freed the Temples. During that time, I learned that I was not a Kokiri, but in truth a hylian, which had allowed me to age. Afterwards, Sheik told me that Gannondorf did not have the full Triforce. In order to obtain that power, one must its three forces, Power, Wisdom, and Courage in balance, or it will separate, leaving only that piece the person most believes in. Gannondorf only had the Triforce of Power, while the other two pieces had become part of other beings. I had the Triforce of Courage, and as Sheik revealed to me, he or rather Zelda, had been given the Triforce of Wisdom. But when she revealed this to me, Gannondorf captured her. I fought my way through his castle, eventually defeating him and casting him into the evil realm."
Link paused then, allowing the others to absorb his story. After a moment, Starfire asked, 'That was a most impressive tale, but I did not hear mention of this Majora." "I didn't meet him till later. You see, after I had defeated Gannondorf, I was returned to my proper time and age. I was the only one who remembered what had happened, except for my fairy partner, Navi. But afterwards, she left me, as I no longer had any need for a guardian. After some time had passed, I decided to go looking for her. I began to explore a section of the Lost Woods, a strange part of the Hyrulian Woods. There I was attacked by a creature called a Skull Kid, who wore a strange mask. He stole my horse and ocarina and led me into a strange portal. After I came through, he transformed me into a small creature called a Deku Scrub. I finally emerged in a place called Termina, a mirror dimension of Hyrule. Each person there was the exact double of someone I had met in Hyrule. Thankfully I did have some help. The Skull had begun to travel with a couple of fairy partners, Tatl and Tael, but Tatl had become angered with him and agreed to help me. But there was someone else to help me as well."
"I also met the Mask Salesman, a merchant from Hyrule who'd known about the portal for some time. He told me that the Skull Kid had stolen one of his masks and that if I returned it to him, he would return me to human form. I traveled through Termina's Clock Town, where I learned that moon had begun to descend from the heavens and would crash upon the town within three days. I did not find the Skull Kid again until the third night of the third day, on top of the Clock Tower. Just as the moon was about to fall, I managed to retrieve my ocarina and used a song Zelda had taught me to travel back in time to the first day. I went to the Mask Salesman, who had not been affected by the change, and he returned me to human form. He also turned my Deku form into a mask, I could change into at will. I of course, had no mask to give him. He became fearful and told me that the mask had been created by an ancient tribe, and used in their most evil hexing rituals. But it had become so powerful that they feared to use it and locked it away. The tribe later vanished from the land, but the mask remained hidden. Until he had found it. The Salesman had planned to destroy it, but the Skull Kid had stolen it first. It's power had corrupted him and using it, he had caused the moon to fall. The only chance I had was to take the mask back, and the only way to do that was to free the four guardians of the land, who had been imprisoned by Majora. Once again, I journeyed to the corrupted Temples, and using my ocarina to gain more time, I was able to free them all. I also gained more masks and weapons as I progressed."
"When the guardians were all free, I journeyed back to the Clock Tower and again, faced the Kid down. This time, I was able to call the guardians down, and they stopped the moon. The Skull Kid's power left him, but the mask did not. It came to life and drew me into the moon itself, for a final battle. I defeated it and left Termina to resume my quest." "Okay," Beast Boy asked. "But who was Majora?" "Yeah, I didn't get that." Heatstrike concurred. At his point, Zelda took up the story. "The dark rituals of the tribe had actually created a demon spirit inside the mask. The mask itself was Majora."
At this, Cyborg yelled out, "Hold on! You mean to tell me that a mask had been doing all this? That's crazy." "But it's true." Brett answered. "The power of that mask has been feared for centuries, by everyone who's ever heard of it." Turning back to Zelda, the Elemental asked, "How did it get out?" "We don't know." she replied. "The Hyrulian Temples became corrupted again, its demons re-born. We went to the Sages, and they told us he had escaped, but even they don't know how." "But why would he attack here and in your world?" Robin mused. "If it was me, I would go back to Termina to attack." Link nodded. "But he doesn't have the strength and besides, he wants to be revenged on me. He has attacked Hyrule so he can weaken it enough to overtake it. As for Earth, he wants it because few here know of powerful magic. He will raze it, take its resources, and Hyrule and Termina will be next." "But how can he be overseeing all this?" asked Raven. "He's planning attacks in two different worlds." Dejectedly, Link responded, "He's taken Hyrule Castle; it's a focal point for dimensional energy. He can observe everything, and send hundreds of monsters through."
"So what do we do?" asked Bartman. Link drew himself up and spoke. "We can't save your world from here. The only way to end this is to stop Majora in Hyrule, so that is where we must go. I know that you fear for your city, but you stand the best chance of protecting it there." "Give us a minute." Robin and Bartman said almost instantaneously. Calling everyone together, everyone turned to Brett. "You know more about these guys then us Brett." Robin said. "What do you think?" "Link and Zelda are some of the most powerful heroes in any world." The bat responded. "If this is what they suggest, I would go on it. Besides, we don't have any better ideas." "I don't know." Neuron countered. "What if this is a trick? Besides, if we leave the city unguarded, no one will be safe." "Yeah, but we weren't exactly doing all that well before." responded Beast Boy. The heroes argued for a few moments more, but eventually, Robin turned to Link and Zelda and said, "We're in."
Breathing an almost audible sigh of relief, Link said, "All right, everyone come around me." As the others did so, Link pulled an object out of his pocket. Egg-shaped, it was perfectly blue and seemed to glow with an otherworldly light. "The Ocarina of Time." Brett breathed. "Everyone join hands, and make sure we're all connected." Link ordered. The heroes quickly followed suit, with Starfire and Neuron placing their hands of Link's shoulders. Raising the instrument to his lips, Link played a dark, lonesome melody that reminded everyone of the desert. Suddenly, there was a stream of pale yellow lights that floated over everyone. There was a flash, and then everyone disappeared, as the lights swirled away.
