Majora's Mask 2:

Link's Heir

Modern Hyrule and Hylia are now one. The Hero of Time has been obscured by the mists of time, and exists only in a few writings, long held in hyrule castle. Hyrulia remains an independent country and continent southwest of britain. Our culture has become theirs. But obscured from history is not erased. An evil long vanquished has reformed itself, but so has the Hero…

Arin Grady was your average Hyrulian girl. Long blond hair, Pointy ears, pretty tall. She had her left ear peirced. She was also addicted to Pink Floyd. Most of all, her favorite thing in the world was Dark Side of the Moon. She said herself, "Dark Side of the Moon is like life. It Begins and ends with a heartbeat." Arin also loved hyrulian and hylian myth and lore.

It was a fateful Thursday when her high school took a field trip to Hyrule castle as part of the hyrulian history unit. She was roaming the hallways with her friends Vanessa and Joshua. They were in the artifact room.

"They say this place was once the room of a great hero. No records have been found of his name." Arin said.

"Must have been some hero, this place's fit for a king on its own."Joshua said.

"Legend says he married the princess of the land. Then he sealed away his weapons and prized posessions, hopefully never needing to call upon them again. That's where the lore stops. If the weapons were truly sealed, then the chamber is close by."

Vanessa said, "then forget school and let's look for it! Hell, if it's been missing for centuries, a penny can be worth a million. Let's see what this ol' piece of tin foil left laying around!"

Joshua tried to convince his girlfriend otherwise. "Vanessa, love, I don't think we should do that. For one, we don't even know that these legends are true. Two, if we get caught—"

Arin said, "You sound as if we're going to commit a crime. C'mon, Josh, where's your sense of adventure? Let's just have a look around."

As they roamed through the great chamber, Joshua asked Arin,

"So what made this man a hero in the first place?"

"Many things. First, it's said that he saved hyrule from becoming a war-torn wasteland and slayed the king of evil forever. The second is more interesting. As everyone knows, a great part of hylia's culture before merging slowly with Hyrule were masks. Some were mere decoration, some could even change you into something else. Back then it was called the land of Termina. Our hero wandered in and was recruited by a traveling mask salesman to return a mask of horrid evils to the salesman's posession. It was called Majora's Mask. He fought both time and evil to get this mask, but the mask eluded him, and the mask fled to the moon, which for a forgotten reason nearly crashed into Hylia. But the hero followed it there and destroyed it. Legend says the mask wasn't completely destroyed, and its evil would return to strike vengeance on hylia, and all its allies. Of course, this is purely legend. Nothing like that could have really happened."

"Quite a story."

"Hey guys! I think I found something!" Vanessa cried.

They ran over to discover that she had pushed aside a tapestry. One of the stones did not have any mortar around it. tenatively, Arin pushed it. One of the wood panels on the opposite wall went up. When they look inside of the small nook that had been revealed, a mounted crystal stood there. Arin picked up a metal bar from one of the displays and moved toward it.

"What are you doing?" Joshua said. He moved to stop her but Arin hit the crystal with the iron bar. An odd yellow liquid suddenly lit up the crystal, and the wood boards in the floor streched out to reveal a stairway. The three of them cautiously went down it. the boards closed behind them and torches lit the way down.Joshua ran up and smashed into the floorboards. They didn't give. They had nowhere to go but down. When they reached the bottom, the chamber they found was empty. There was a massive hole in the middle.
"Well, that was worthless. This place probably was cleaned out a while ago." Vanessa said.

Arin noticed something laying on the ground. she picked it up, to find a mask of a warrior. She looked on the back, to find a piece of parchment, covered in hylian runes. She read the parts of the parchment that weren't missing.

'this is the mask of the Fierce Diety. Bear it, and my power will present itself to you. Do not show this to anyone. May the power of the triforce guide your way.'

She took the mask and stuffed it in her backpack. She ran to Joshua and Vanessa, who were gazing down into the hole. The ground was wet, and she slid, knocking all down into the hole. Vanessa closed her eyes and braced for the end. But it never came. She found herself standing where she was right before she had found the brick. Joshua and Arin ran over to her, and lifted the tapestry. The brick was gone. Joshua tapped on the wall where the crystal had been. It was solid, not hollowed as before.

Arin stammered, "D—did that even…happen?"

Joshua looked at the painting of lake hylia that was on the wall. There was something different about it. the water seemed to be tinted with evil, something brewing under the placid surface. He blinked and the landscape returned to normal.

"There's no way to know."

Arin woke up Saturday morning, feeling nervous. She had told herself she would put on the mask that day. She pulled aside an old map hanging on her wall to reveal the mask. Her own words echoed in her ears. "Some could even change you into something else." She took it down, read the piece of parchment. The writing had changed. It now read, 'Do not worry about the mask. I will come to help you. My name is link.' The paper fell from her hand, and floated, slower than time itself, to the ground. She checked the house. No one there. She went back to her room, took a deep breath, picked up the mask, closed her eyes, and put it over her face.

In the fleeting moments of pain she heard a scream that pierced her very soul. She realized quickly that it was her own. The pain stopped. She felt taller, and weighed down. A power coursed through her body she had never felt before. Almost as if she were a god…she turned to the mirror. Looking back at her was a being with long white hair, wearing inpenetrable armor. The eyes were white all through. She drew the sword on her back. The two pieces of metal that made up the outer edges of the blade crossed in the middle. She spoke to herself, shattering the icy silence of the room.

"What am I?" her voice was the same, a comforting thought.

She lifted her hands to her face, and she could feel the power coursing through her. As her hands passed back towards her ears, she felt something.

"the edge of the…mask…?"

she pulled on it, and the mask came off. She was herself again. Suddenly, things started to appear on her bed. The Master Sword, The Mirror Sheild, the hookshot, the bow and arrow, the Ocarina, and various masks. She looked to the parchment, and as she suspected, it had changed again. This time it was english writing, and only one sentence.

'look into the mirror.'

She set the parchment on the bed. She looked at all the weapons and items that appeared on her bed. Is any of this, her mind asked, really here? Slowly, she turned to look in the mirror. Standing there was plain, old Arin. Nothing had changed, except for now, there was the symbol of the triforce burned onto the back of her left hand. She sighed with relief. A little mark on he hand did not trouble her. She was normal, when she turned around, the weapons would be gone. It was just a delusion. She was fine. The mirror seemed to shatter before her eyes, then reform itself. That was when she saw, in the reflection, the young man with blond hair and a green hat standing behind her. She turned around, expecting him to disappear, along with the weapons, but both were still there, as real as she was.

Before Arin could open her mouth to speak, he stepped forward. He spoke.

"Yes. This is real. I am real, the weapons are real, everything that has happened. Let me explain everything from the beginning.

"575 years ago, I defeated the evil mask known as majora. After that, Peace held both lands. I thought I would finally be able to settle down. I was horribly wrong. Defeated does not mean destroyed. Majora's mask used its last bit of energy to seal me in the mask you picked up, along with my posessions. But the gods helped me. They hid the mask until the time in which I could come back and train someone to take my place. You were the lucky one to find it. I wasn't expecting a girl, but if the gods picked you, then there's hope. That mark on your hand means that you will take my place. I am, well, was the hero of time. Now you are that hero. I'm just normal now, but I remember everything I learned over 575 years. As for you, you hold the power to destroy evil. Majora must be back too, or maybe Ganon. That's why you would have found the mask. A threat to the world. Hah, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Link. Now that I am back, I'm sure other people will be, too. Um, can I crash here for a while?"

"how old are you?"

"well, technically, 594 years. But for simplicity's sake, I'm nineteen."

"I'll try. So, these weapons and…masks were all yours?"

"Yeah. But excepting my sword and a couple masks, everything's changed. The Mirror Shield,"­—he picked it up— "now has A phoenix and dragon emblazened on it instead of the sun and the moon. The hookshot looks like a crossbow, the bow is larger, as well as its quiver, and there are masks here I don't recognize. Like these dragon, wolf, and eagle masks. Maybe when you put the mask on, it changed the weapons to fit you. But that still doesn't explain the three masks."

"What about you? Whatever I have to fight, you're helping me."

Link smiled, and pulled out a sword inlayed with gold, and a comon hylian shield.

"I have the Gilded sword, forged by 2 smithys in hylia, and my old shield to fight with. I'm going to have to train you how to use this stuff."

The doorbell rang. They both froze. Arin told link to hide the inventory and himself while she stalled. Joshua was at the door, looking like a wreck. She brought him into the kitchen, and gave him a cup of tea.

"What happened?"

"What didn't? Vanessa traveling abroad with her family, leaving today, my father was badly injured in an attack at Romani Ranch, and to top it all off, this big guy on a massive black steed nearly trampled me and my motorcycle on the way here!"

"Your father? Is he okay?"

"Yeah. Some thief in a mask tried to break in and steal some horses, but my father fended him off, and got roughed up a bit. No one's tried to rob that ranch in almost 600 years, they said. I'm worried about Vanessa. There's something stirring out there. I don't know what it is, but if there is something, I'll be the one to fend it off. You see, I never told anyone this, but my family is the last in a long line of Knights supposedly descended from the hero you mentioned."

"So you already knew everything."

"Yeah. Hey, who's that guy sitting in your living room?"

Link was sitting on the couch, trying to fall asleep.
"Oh, him. Could you excuse us a moment?"

"Whatever."

She dragged link up to her room.

"I thought I told you to hide. What if that had been my mom?"

"Relax. I heard that he was your friend, so it was safe. Besides, there is no way anyone is going to recognize me half a millenia after everyone I knew was dead?"

"Not that anyone would believe you. Except him, he's a knight in…Link, tell me, before you were in the mask, did you have sex with anybody?"

"I came close to doing it with the princess zelda, and a gerudo named Nabooru, a couple of times."

"Someone that you actually did it with?"

"Well, when I was eighteen, I dropped in on a friend of mine, Malon. Her father owned a ranch called Lon Lon Ranch then, and I had helped save it. That was where I got my horse. I stopped in to say hi, and she kissed me, one thing came to another and we ended up in her room. Two months later, she said she was pregnant. That was when I was sealed in the mask. Out of sheer curiosity, why do you ask?"

"Your descendant is sitting in my kitchen having a cup of tea."
"WHAT?"

"Proof enough, his father owns Lon Lon Ranch now!"

"This is awkward."

"For now, we'll tell him you're an out of province friend."

As they walked into the kitchen, Joshua stepped out from behind them.

"So this guy is my ancestor?" He said.

They both jumped.

"I heard it all. Strange, but considering how weird you've been acting since the Castle, Arin, I think it all fits."

Bullets ripped through the bay window of her living room. They all dove for shelter. Gunfire and squealing tires could be heard. Joshua managed to get a look out the window. Three black cars full of Gerudos and the man on the horse were there, all toting machine guns. Bullets tore up the couch, the kitchen table, and the stairway. Glass shattered, wood splintered, and laughter rang out from the streets. The voice that shouted out over the roar brought feelings of hatred into Link.

"You know what they say, 'You can't spell slaughter without laughter!'"

They rode away cackling. Link stood up, his face calm, but in his eyes the fires of a thousand hatreds ignited, setting aflame feelings in Joshua that hadn't been felt before. The fire vanished, and link helped Arin up.

"Who in Hell was that?"

"Gannondorf. An evil man, a powerful tyrant, and a monster. By the master sword, and the six sages, he was sealed away. Only one thing could have brought him back, and that is Majora's Mask."
Joshua started, "You hate that man, don't you? He sealed away the future you could have had. I'll bring him to justice, at the wave of your hand. Kill 'im, If you'd like."

"Um…"

"Joshua, calm down. Link, my friend puts only two things ahead of himself. Loyalty to his Family and friends. You are his ancestor, so naturally…"

"Don't do anything yet, Josh. If we strike too soon, we'll be accused of murder before he is revealed."

"Link, get your sword. We've got to go."

Arin retrieved the Master Sword and Mirror Shield. She led them straight to Lon Lon Ranch, unaware of the horrors that lay ahead. As link looked at the sky, another haunting part of his past loomed over him. The moon was slowly inching down towards the earth, this time large enough to crush all of Hyrulia. He could see where it would smash. Hyrule Castle. When they arrived, it was almost midnight. They had gone by foot, and it was a bit of a hike to the ranch. When they opened the door, they heard voices coming from the kitchen. Joshua walked in just in time to see his father impaled on the sword in Gannondorf's hand. Immediately Joshua grabbed link's sword and thrust it into the attacker's stomach. The wicked man laughed, and pulled it out slowly.

"It will take more than this to kill me."

He punched Joshua in the stomach, slammed Link and Arin against the wall, and left. The two carried out the bewildered Josh. They slept in the barn, until late the next day. Arin found her old friend in one of the horse's stalls, weeping in his sleep. It wasn't until noon on the third day did they leave the barn. Link ran into a familiar face as they were leaving the property.

"Is that you, Ingo? You used to work here. How are you still alive?"

"You…destroyed...me…now…you must DIE!"

Ingo leaped at Link with a pitchfork and a crazed look in his eyes. But before he could reach him, Arin drew her sword and slashed the crazed man. As soon as the body hit the ground, Soldiers stormed the ranch. Without evidence, Link, Joshua, and Arin were thrown into jail.

The moon loomed over the castle, as the three sat in a dungeon cell. Joshua slammed into the cell wall.

"NO! My father isn't dead. He can't be! Let me out! I've got to save him! Got to save him…" He slumped against the cold stone, broken. The person he loved the most was gone. His friend, his mentor, his father, the last of a noble line, was no more. Arin tried to reason with the guard.

"Can't you let us out? We were witnesses to a murder! We didn't do anything wrong! Can't you at least tell us why we're in here?"

"My orders are to guard your cell, stifle any ill-concieved attempt to escape, and not to tell you anything regarding your arrest."the Soldier replied coldly.

"Who ordered this?"

"Straight from the General of the Gerudo Command."

"Since when are they in charge?"

"Two days ago. Right after the Shooting on Rosewood Road."

"That was my house!"

"Oh, really? That's horrible. No one was hurt, were they? I'd hate to hear that."

Link Stood up, reached in his hat, pulled out a silver rupee, and gave it to the guard, and said,

"You seem like a nice fellow. Now tell me, what do you know?"

"I am Darnen, of the Royal Guard. I was given the orders stated before from the new Gerudo King, Gannondorf. As they are in command of almost all of the province of hyrule, I had no choice to obey. According to him, you are a threat to the safety of the country, and were to be held down here until he could question you privately. The province gave him control under suspicious circumstances. I investigated this, and found he had bribed, blackmailed, and threatened members of the Royal council to obtain this power. Only one refused, and his murder was the night of the Shooting. Lon Lon Ranch, the property of the owner, was given not to his son, but a man claiming to be the rightful owner, procuring a deed from almost 6 centuries ago, giving his family the land. He was found dead when you were arrested. You are not, for some strange reason, suspects in the murder. However, a dazed girl about your age was found on the ranch, and she is being deterred at the Gerudo Palace."

Link took another silver rupee out of his hat, and some stationary. As he was writing a letter, he gave the soldier some directions.

"Thanks for the information. Now, there's 500 rupees in it for you if you do me Four things: A) you find the name of the girl being deterred. B) You buy me an ocarina at the market in town. C) you deliver this letter to the Aforementioned King. And, most important of all, D) You deliver this letter to King Igos du Ikana in Ikana Castle. Do not worry about the guards. Tell him that the penetrator of the Stone Tower sent you."

The Soldier left, and did not return until dusk.

"Sir, I have done as you requested. Here is a relic of the middle ages, a ocarina with the royal family symbol engraved on it. Gannondorf threw me into the river after he read your letter. As to the King of Ikana, he bade me tell you that he will do his best, but he does not think he can get the council to yeild."

"And the girl's name?"

The guard handed link an envelope, and said,

"She is to be executed for the murder of the two men at Lon Lon Ranch at dawn today. In there are the records of the trial. There was no outstanding evidence. But once I delivered the letter to Gannondorf, he closed the trial with her conviction."

"Thank you. Here, as I promised."

Link gave him the rupees. As he poured over the trial proceedings, he caught the name of the Juror who was convinced the girl was innocent until gannondorf removed the Juror from the Court.

"Nabooru…?"

"Link, help me get Joshua up on his bed."

They heaved him up on the top bunk.

"Poor Josh. I never knew my father."

Link turned back to the trial. In the last few moments of the trial, the accused was asked o give her name. Link turned pale. The papers fell to the floor, and he collapsed to the floor.

"It…it can't be…"

He pulled himself up onto his bed, and looked out the small barred window of the cell. It was almost dawn, and he knew that the moon was about to smash into the earth. Tears welled in his eyes.
"Malon…I just wish I could have seen you again. I wish I could have told you…I loved you."

Arin sighed, "If only we could turn back Time."

Link snapped up.

"Did you say turn back Time?"

"Yeah."

"That Ocarina! It's the old one from… Yes! We can go back! Wake up Josh, and hold on!"

Link played the song of time. The notes echoed long and far, and time caved in. the three were pulled in, and Arin saw the events of the last three days course before her eyes. When it all stopped, they found themselves standing in the kitchen.

"What happened? The kitchen is torn up like before."

"We traveled back in Time! Don't you see? It's Just like when I saved Termina. We just undid the past three days. We know what's going to happen, and we can stop it! Gannondorf shows up in 5 minutes, and I've got an Idea of how to stop him."

Link sat in the tree with three bombchu, waiting for the Gerudos to come. Joshua was standing in the driveway. Arin was waiting behindthe trashcan on the street curb. Three cars came screeching around the corner, and Gannondorf came riding from the opposite direction. Right on cue, Link dropped the bombchu, which collided with the cars in a deafening explosion. Gannondorf stopped short, confused and angry. Arin leaped out and fired two arrows at the horse. It ran in fright, dragging the Evil man away with it. They Spared no time in getting to the ranch. Joshua took his father to safety. Arin and link, on the other hand, decided to give Gannondorf a nasty shock. When he did walk in, Link stepped out of the darkness.

"Ganon! Long time no see. Tell me, you weren't looking to kill the owner of this ranch, were you? Then give the deed to that maggot Ingo? This time, that won't happen. It all happened before. And you'll be the one to pay!"

"How did you—never mind that. I'll crush you now as I would have done before."

Arin stepped out, and the two drew their swords.

"Get out, you foul monster. Link should have killed you when he had the chance."

Gannondorf fled.

As Arin was saddling up 2 horses, Link took a walk around the ranch. He ran into a familiar face.

"Malon!"

"Link! You're alive! Where are we?"

Arin rode out with three horses.

"He'll have to explain on the way, the Soldiers will be here sooner than last time."

An evil Cackle rung out over the barn. They turned to see Majora's Mask, floating overhead.

"So, this time around everything works in your favor, boy. But mind you this. I am indestructable, and have set things in motion not a score of you could stop. Ride away, but fear my glorious return. AHAHAHAHAHAhahahahaha…"