Short Notice

Sorry it took so long. So… um… Yeah. Here ya go.

The Turn-Back Clock

Link entered the temple. It looked as if someone built it, but never bothered cleaning it. The walls were covered with moss and vines. Every spec of wall and floor was covered in filth. It certainly wasn't one Link's preferable places.

" So… You came here looking for it, too?" a voice said. Link looked around, startled.

" Who's there?" Link said.

" You're afraid of the shadows, aren't you," the voice said. Link realized that it was the voice of girl around his age, by the sounds of it.

" What are you talking about?" Link said. " Show yourself!"

" If I reveal myself, will you be afraid?" she asked. " I truly dislike people running away from me… before they even know me…"

" I won't," Link said, with hesitation. What was this all about? Just then, Link's eye caught something in a shadowy corner. A figure rose from the ground, but not menacingly, like the corpse of a dead soul emerging from a grave. It arose sort of gracefully, as if it were ghost rising through a hole in the ground. As it glided out of the shadows, Link got a clearer look at what it was. Just as he guessed, it was in the shape of a girl his age, but she was not normal. She seemed to be wearing a dress that dragged across the floor, because there was a shadow surrounding her as she glided across the floor. Just the way she glided and was surrounded in a vibe of darkness was mysterious enough, as if she was made of shadows entirely. The only facial features Link could see were white shapes for eyes and a mouth, and the shape of the nose, ears and here shoulder long hair.

" Who are you?" Link asked.

" My village was attacked," she said. " I was the only one who survived. It was terrible… Monsters invaded and we didn't know what to do… People screaming… People falling around me, dead… Then, all went dark… I thought my time on earth was over, but a light shown in the darkness, and then I stood exactly where I was, in the middle of my destroyed village, and I was like this… Consumed by darkness… The monsters were gone… I was still alive… But now a days, I wish I had been killed…"

" I'm sorry," Link said. " I lost people who were close to me recently, too. What's your name?"

" … I don't know…" she said, her head sinking in misery. Her eyes closed into white curved lines and a glowing, pearl-like tear trickled from one. " The curse that has fallen upon my life has caused me to forget my family, my friends… even my own name…"

Link stood there for what seemed to be decades listening to the shadow girl's sobs. He felt much pity for her. He wished there was something he could do.

" … But you can call Malari," she said. " That's what those who know me for what I am now call me."

" What is it that you're looking for, Malari?" Link asked.

" An ancient treasure," Malari replied. " It gives the user the ability to reset time and change the past. It was created by an ancient race millions of years ago. It is called the Turn-Back Clock."

" You want to use it to change the past so that your village would not have been destroyed and you would not be the way you are?" Link asked.

" Precisely," Malari said. " Why did you come to find it?"

" Actually," Link replied, " I didn't come looking for it. I'm traveling and I just sort of ended up here."

" Well, help me find it and you might find a use for it," Malari said. "Is there anything in your life you want to change?"

" Well…" Link said. " There is something… Something that happened recently… That caused me to lose my friends."

" If we find it, we can both use it," Malari said.

" Yeah," Link said. " I guess."

" Great!" she said. " Now, I'm very close to finding the chamber in which the clock is hidden. We need to find a stone in the floor of this room that sticks out of the ground more than the others."

Link looked around him. The stone flooring was so uneven that he thought it would be impossible to decide which were below level or above level. He began to walk around. Suddenly, he stepped on one of the stones and it sunk into the ground. Then he heard the sound of crumbling walls. Malari turned to look at him.

" I didn't do it!" Link said. A wall near Malari slowly lowered to reveal a flight of stairs going downward. They looked at each other and nodded. They then began descending the stairs.

After a while, they were still descending. Link was exhausted. He was panting like he never had before. Malari looked at him curiously.

" What's wrong with you?" she asked.

" What's wrong!" Link said. " I'm exhausted!"

" I'm not tired," she said.

" Well, of course you're not tired!" he said. " You don't even have to walk. You just float… or glide… or… or whatever it is you do."

Link then heard sobs behind him. He turned around and saw that Malari had stopped and was sitting on a step with her face buried in her arms, sobbing.

" Just once, I wish I could walk like a normal person and actually get tired," she cried through her tears. Link, realizing that what he had said was not the best thing to say, felt terrible. He went back up a few steps to where she was and sat next to her. He put his hand on her shoulder.

" Look, I'm sorry," Link said. " I didn't mean to hurt you."

" It's okay," she said. And wiped away her pearl-like tears. They continued on.

" It's a good thing this passage is lined with torches," Link said, trying to change the subject. " We wouldn't be able to see. Or at least I know I wouldn't, I don't know about…"

Link stopped in the middle of his sentence, realizing what he had just said. He once again heard sobs behind him. He gave a sigh and realized he would have to watch what he said from now on.

Later on, they finally reached the bottom of the staircase. It lead them to a chamber where light was leaking through a hole in the ceiling. Conveniently, the single ray of light was pointing to a pedestal where a small sapphire pocket watch sat. They walked up to it (or glided up in Malari's case). It was a curious looking watch. Where the numbers would be were actually strange symbols that Link did not recognize. Under it was something written, but Link couldn't read it as it seemed to be in ancient script.

" I may be able to read this," Malari said. " … I think it's instructions. ' One full turn equivalent one hour.' That's what it says."

" So all we got to do is turn it back the number of hours we want," Link said.

" Exactly," she said.

" Great!" Link said. " Um… You wanna go first?"

Malari thought for a moment.

" No," she said, " You first."

" You sure?" Link asked.

" Positive," she said. " You found this room, remember."

" Um, okay," Link said. " Thanks."

Link could suddenly feel the excitement of being able to save his friends. He could hardly believe it was happening. That he was getting a second chance to be able to save Medli, Makar, and the rest of them. He figured they were attacked about twenty-four hours ago, so he decided to go back twenty-seven, as he thought they were in Death Mountain Cavern for at least three hours. With that, he turned the knob on the watch twenty-seven times. Malari grabbed his shoulder so she would travel with him. Thus began Link's mission along with his new friend Malari.