Back again with FYT to hopefully make Mondaya little les shitty:).
This ones a bit of a shortie. They will get longer as the story progresses haha. I did try to keep myself on a more strict basis concerning chapter length, so they wouldn't turn into the 7-10k word monstrosities of Empire, but they progressively got longer as I kept writing, and uhh, yeah lmao. So I don't know if they'll stay super long, but I will try to keep them shorter so they're not so grueling to get through haha.
Anyway, begin!
We're leaving," Tessen said, keeping his sword drawn. Hazen drew his as well, just in case. "We have to tell the empress about this."
"About what?" Saval argued. "A creepy mask in the woods? She'd think we were crazy!"
"She's seen stranger," Tessen shot back. "I'm not compromising our safety--anyone's safety--just because she might think we're hallucinating. We all saw that thing, Saval, and there is something not right about this place. We need to leave, and try to warn them."
"Warn them about what, Tessen?" Saval demanded, but she wasn't even trying to convince herself. They'd all felt the evil from that mask. They knew it was a threat.
They continued to argue, until Hazen cleared his throat. "Hey, guys? I don't think leaving is an option anymore."
They broke off to look at him, then stare behind him. "You've got to be kidding," Tessen whispered.
The path they'd come from was closed, no sign of the well-worn entrance to be found. Saval took several steps back, clutching the knife at her side. She'd worn a riding dress, but she still carried her dagger, everywhere she went. Now, she clutched it tightly, her shoulder bumping Tessen's. He pressed into her, his chest rising and falling quickly.
"What now?" Hazen asked. "Do we try to push through, or follow the mask?"
Follow the mask. He could hardly believe what he was saying. Yes, let's follow the murderous mask that just scared us out of our skins and blocked our path out of here. Great idea, me.
But it wasn't as if they had a choice now. No horses, no way out, only the path ahead. The three of them stepped up to it, exchanging glances. "Whatever it is, we're prepared now," Tessen said bracingly. "Watch each other's backs, and keep an eye out for that mask."
They stepped onto the path, and it was as if the sunlight disappeared. The woods were dark, darker than they'd ever seen them, and every rustle and twig snap made them jump. After a moment of silent walking, Saval slipped her hand into Hazen's, making him jump. "Sorry," she whispered. "We should hold hands, so we don't get separated."
"Good idea," Tessen whispered back. Hazen was so wound up he couldn't even manage a comment to tease Tessen; he just squeezed Saval's hand tightly. It went like that for several moments, and they began to relax the tiniest bit when another pulse swept through the trees. At once they huddled together, facing each direction. But no mask came.
"It's that pulse," Tessen murmured. "It has to be. It happened when the mask appeared earlier. Keep alert, guys."
Another pulse stole his next words, stronger and longer than the last, and then another, until the wind was so loud it sounded like screams, and then--
It was gone.
The three stood from the ground, where they'd crumpled, and searched the woods frantically. Several minutes passed, but no mask came. Hazen began to calm his racing heart when he heard a crunching sound behind him, and turned to see a red shaped blob spin toward him. His stomach dropped.
"RUN!" He roared, and without hesitation they sprinted for their lives, leaping over broken trees, following the path of destruction. Saval's breath was sharp with tears, and her hand was white in Tessen's grip. Hazen risked a glance back and saw only a bright, wide yellow eye before fire exploded on his shoulder and he went down.
"Hazen!"
"Go!" he shouted, spitting out dirt. He pushed himself to his feet and ducked as the mask spun around and shot forward for another pass. It missed, but now it was behind him again, and he couldn't decide if that was good or not. He caught up to his friends and leapt over another broken tree, glancing at it as he passed.
The forest faced worse destruction the further they went. But they had no choice--there was a clearing ahead, and the mask was--
It was--
Gone.
They burst into the clearing and threw themselves down, but nothing spun after them, and they looked back to see the red, spiked mask drift back into the forest, bulbous eyes watching them until they were illuminated in the darkness. Then they were gone.
For a single moment that lasted forever, the only sound was that of their heaving breaths. Then Saval let out a whimper and broke down, her whole body shaking with fear and adrenaline. Tessen held her, eyes wide and shocked, and stared at Hazen without seeing him.
And Hazen . . . was frozen. He sat on the ground, too scared to take his face from the path to see where they'd landed, or wonder why the mask didn't follow them. He just . . . couldn't move.
The rage in those eyes . . . the hate and pain and evil . . . He shook his head, unable to do anything more.
But Saval was.
She stayed sitting, hands propping her up from behind, and began hyperventilating, her eyes wide. "Wh--What the fuck was that?!"
She closed her eyes, her shoulders hunching, and Tessen gripped her arm. "Hazen, we need you to get up," he said, hoarsely. "Your shoulder is injured."
Blinking dumbly, Hazen finally registered the wound. He glanced at it, back at the woods, and slowly got to his feet. He swallowed hard. "Where are we?"
"I don't know," Tessen said, his glasses cracked from the fall into the clearing. "But that . . . thing didn't follow us in here, so I guess it's safe for us."
He pulled Saval towards the curtain of vines at the other end and pulled them aside. As Hazen stepped through, he felt his jaw drop. A moment later, Tessen followed his lead.
"What . . . what is this place?"
A massive ruin stood before them across a wide courtyard. Two crumbled staircases led to a balcony, so degraded and ruined it was hard to see how it had once been. But there were signs, all over the courtyard, that proved it must have been a grand place.
In the past.
Hazen felt the shock and fear fade slightly, allowing room for amazement. Above the crumbling, overgrown walls, remnants of glass shone in the sudden sunlight. It crunched under their boots, glittering under all the grass and leaves. It was huge, too. What was this place?
Tessen and Saval were exploring the alcoves beneath the ruined staircases. There was nothing to find, other than a few pots, which were promptly smashed. But no rupees, no hints to their location, no suspicious artifacts.
They regrouped in the center, somewhat lost. ". . . What now?" Saval asked, quiet.
Hazen and Tessen exchanged a look. "That mask couldn't get in here," Hazen said slowly, looking over the ruins.
"But we can," Tessen continued. "And the pulses right before it appeared . . ." He glanced at Hazen, then Saval. "Can you feel it?"
Saval held her arms, which was answer enough. Hazen nodded, and Tessen began scuffing the ground with his boot. "The energy is the same. Those pulses weren't giving off the same evil energy as the mask. And this place . . . it feels holy. Warm, safe. Not like the mask at all."
"Which means this place . . . was sending out the pulses," Saval said, watching Tessen scuff the ground.
"At the very least, it's of the same origin as the pulses," Hazen said, growing distracted as the scuffing grew louder. "I want to say that--that we've--Tessen, what are you doing?"
He didn't answer, making Saval and Hazen exchange a glance. They came over to see what Tessen was up to, and peered at the ground. "I don't see what--" Saval gasped. "Oh."
Hazen saw it too. Without a word they both began scuffing at the ground until the whole thing was clear of dirt and leaves, revealing the design inlaid into the stone.
"It's the goddesses," Tessen said, meeting his friends' gazes. "That's why. This is a Sacred place."
"But what for?" Hazen murmured, his eyes on the balcony. They wandered around the clearing, alighting on a door carved from the stone wall, almost invisible. "Look. There's a door."
They ran for it, slipping through one at a time. It was a slightly sharp decline, and at the other end was another chamber, in just as bad shape as the first but decidedly different. It was bare but for the broken arches above them, and a single empty pedestal in the middle. The three of them walked up to it, examining the pedestal.
"Well, it used to hold something," Hazen frowned. "But I dunno--wait."
He turned to Tessen. "You remember that report we did last year? On the sacred places and what they were used for?"
Tessen cocked a brow at Hazen's excitement. "Yeah. I did the Temple of Time and you did the Sacred Grove."
His voice had tapered off as he spoke, and now he looked about the clearing with new eyes. The eyes of a historian. "This is it," he murmured.
"Wait, this is the Temple of Time?" Saval interjected. "But it doesn't look like it at all. The other one is all white and pristine and . . . whole. This . . . isn't."
She was right. But Hazen had remembered something else from the report, something that made him grab their hands. "But in between the Era of Time and the Twilight Era, the temple fell into disrepair, until the Hero of Twilight came along to claim the Sword. It never got fixed, but the legends describe a sort of test to see if the Hero could face up to the task. It's this place. The Sacred Grove and Temple of Time are one and the same--I knew it!" He and Tessen exclaimed. "And the test--it should be this way."
He dragged them both back to the main atrium, where there were two things there hadn't been before.
Tessen's eyes widened. "This is the test. The Guardians."
Hazen pulled them forward. "It took the form of a puzzle. It wasn't specific on what the puzzle would be, exactly, but we can figure it out. I--"
"Hazen. It's not doing anything."
"What?"
He looked up from examining the ground. Tessen shrugged. "They won't turn on. I don't know how to get them working."
"Guys."
"It should be working." Hazen frowned. "Is there a switch?"
"If there is, it's not anywhere in here. Maybe we need to--"
"Guys," Saval called.
"Nah, that won't work. Is it because we're not the Hero?"
"Guys! Come here and look at this," Saval demanded.
The boys blinked, exchanged a glance before joining Saval. She simply pointed up to the balcony, at a set of doors standing where there definitely had not been doors earlier.
A single glance was all it took to find a way up to the balcony. The stairs weren't an option, but after some snooping, Saval found a series of blocks conveniently stacked so they could climb them up to the balcony. As Tessen pushed Saval higher, he glanced at an old degraded chest, falling apart at the hinges and filled with chunks of stone.
"Well, someone's been here, and not recently," he muttered, heaving himself up.
At the top, the doors waited. Right away the group was on edge; the doors were pure white and carved with ancient runes and writing, and seemingly stood on their own. Hazen peered on both sides, unable to figure it out.
"They just stand like that?"
"I guess so," Tessen muttered. "None of the legends say anything about this."
"The Hero was definitely here; do you think he had to figure this out too?"
That made all of them stop for a moment. Everything they'd done so far, sans the mask, a Hero had previously dealt with. If a Hero didn't experience these doors, what did that mean?
What had they gotten themselves into?
It was a sobering thought, but a crack of thunder boomed right above them. It was red, though, and was much louder than normal thunder, even at their proximity.
"Ten rupees it's the mask trying to get to us," Tessen muttered, his eyes on the thunder. It cracked again, and again and again, and with every blast they inched closer to the doors. As soon as they brushed the frame, they burst open, emitting blinding white light.
As if in answer, thunder cracked and in the split-second light, the mask appeared, yellow eyes glaring before disappearing.
"Through the doors?" Tessen asked, pushing them towards the light.
"Through the doors," Hazen said, and dragged them through, just as the doors slammed shut--inches from the masks's face.
Review replies:
thelinkmaster001: *cue evil laugher* like I've said this is a dark one :))))) and I've always wanted to write Majora's Mask and channel all that ~creepiness~ so uhh here you go! Hehehe I hope you enjoy the story!
Funny how the very day I was talking with my friend about how it may be an unstable schedule, but at least the chapter is always posted on Monday...and then I was late.
*sigh*
Oh well, here it is! I hope y'all enjoy, and stay safe. I'll see you next Monday! Ciao :)
Edit: after going through about 82946294729 times to try and get the line break at the beginning of the chapter to show up, I *inhale* CANNOT understand why they won't show??? Like it's there in every other one and at this ones bottom??? But not the top???? I don't get it??????
I was already at my wits end from work and this, this is not helping T—T
Like I want the chapter to begin with a clear start, not just go right from A/N to chapter, but I guess just said "fuck you, Chloe", so uh. Cool. I get it.
I had this problem with empire too, I don't understand :(