Turns out this double chapter works out well because the next chapter was, like, three paragraphs long LMFAO. So this is more like a triple chapter. Y'all are spoiled this week lol!

When Link returned a few days later, it was with such a dumbfounded look on his face that Saval gave an unlady-like snort.

"Shall we assume you found something?" she said smartly, sipping her tea.

Link shook his head as he sat at the outside table. "I don't understand. It's been centuries--how could anything have survived? And the Calamity--"

"--is not all powerful, as we both well know," Zelda interrupted smoothly. She placed a platter of sweets on the table and smiled. "It seems the goddesses are with you four. Link is right--even if the Calamity hadn't ruined the records, the century between it and now should have."

Hazen shared a look with his group, his gaze lingering on Irene. She sipped at her tea, quiet as she had been lately.

It wasn't like her. From the hours he'd known her, he already knew she was more likely to have a smart comment ready instead of silence. Worrying his lip, he turned away and said, "We've experienced something like this before. When we ran from the mask in Irene's Hyrule, we felt something pull on us, urging us toward the Doors. Sahasrahla said it was calling us."

Tessen sent a glance toward the lake, where the old historian sat reading the books he'd brought with him. "So what did you find in the castle, Link?"

The Hero sat at the table, dropping the tomes next to the bread basket. "I've got Ancient Enemies of Hyrule, Calamity Ganon: A History, and The Lost Ages of Hyrule, compiled by the High Archivist of Hylia, circa 1094. This was all I could find, everything else was moth-eaten or covered in Malice still."

Tessen seized The Lost Ages of Hyrule while Hazen made a grab for Ancient Enemies of Hyrule. Saval watched them flip through. "Start with the Hero of Time. This mask thing is connected to him, somehow."

"Yes ma'am," Tessen murmured, already slouching, squinting at the page.

Zelda cocked her head while Link flipped through Calamity Ganon: A History. "What makes you say that?"

Saval nibbled on a sweet cake. "When it chased us in our own time, we ended up in a degraded form of the Temple of Time--the same one the Heroes of Time and Twilight used in their adventures. I just get this feeling that we should include the Hero of Time in our search."

Zelda nodded slowly. "Judging by your story, there is a lot to consider."

No one spoke much after that, absorbed by their readings, their worries of being found soothed by the quiet sleepiness of Hateno and Zelda's promises that they were safe there. For a while they read in silence, the only sound the soft scrape of pages being turned, and then Hazen sat forward.

The simple motion captured everyone's attention. "What did you find?" Tessen asked.

Hazen didn't answer at first, instead hunching over the book. The seconds ticked by until tessen thought he'd imagined the whole thing, but then Hazen had raised his head.

He looked at Saval. "You were right."

He held the book out as everyone held their breaths. "A primal evil hailing from the land of Termina. Known by historians as a version of Hyrule, it was commonly called the 'upside-down Hyrule', but after the Great Timeline Split, it eventually came into the fold and went by the name 'Termina'."

"Woah, woah, slow down," Zelda said, holding up her hands. "Timeline split?"

"I'm confused too," Saval said. "Since when was there a split?"

"Hang on, I'm searching for it," Hazen said quickly, leafing through the table of contents. "Okay. So . . . it says here that after the Hero of Time woke from his seven-year-sleep, he defeated the seven dungeons and faced Ganondorf in his Tower. During the battle, at the decisive blow, there was a major fracture in time, and the stream, once one continuous flow, broke apart into three different streams."

There was a moment of silence as everyone processed that. "You mean . . . your history didn't tell you of this?" Zelda asked, sparing a worried glance at Link.

Tessen shook his head numbly. "We were taught that time and history was a collective, that . . . that everything happened in a continuous flow."

"Apparently not," Irene muttered. "What else does it say?"

If anyone was surprised to hear her speak, no one showed it. "So when the stream broke, the three different streams created three separate histories that were decided by the outcome of the final battle. If the Hero lost, then . . . Ganondorf was sealed into the Sacred Realm, and Hyrule fell into decline. Somewhere along this line, the Hero of Hyrule was born to defeat the next incarnation of Ganondorf . . ."

He broke off in a sigh. "There's so much," he said, looking up at his audience. "It's going to take forever to sift through all this."

Tessen shook his head. "This . . . this changes everything. All that we thought we knew, gone in a paragraph."

"Is there a way to skip through and find what we need?" Saval asked, threading her fingers discreetly through Tessen's. Hazen saw and hid a tiny smile before turning back to the book. "Maybe . . . I'd need to find a mention of a mask, at least. It'll be a minute."

As Hazen searched, Link and Zelda spoke quietly of what it would mean for Hyrule, and with every word they spoke, it became clearer and clearer to Irene just how massive of a revelation this was. It didn't just mean history was wrong--it meant it was changed. And by whom, and why? Who would want to keep the splits hidden?

"I've found it."

The group jumped at Hazen's voice. He pushed the book onto the table, and they all crowded forward to see the image, hand-drawn next to its subject matter.

Even in black and white, the mask was a nightmare to look at. Saval tipped her head, scanning the page for a name. "Scourge of the Upside-Down," she murmured, her eyes flicking down to the image.

"Majora's Mask."

"'An ancient primal evil, Majora's Mask was a mask haunting the land of Termina. Long regarded as a pseudo-Hyrule, Termina remained out of the fold until the Great Timeline Split, caused by the penultimate Battle of Hyrule, between the Hero of Time and the King of Evil, Ganondorf. After the split, Termina became accessible to the rest of Hyrule via a 'hole in the world', as Scholar Bastien, y. 456, penned it. However, due to the rift in space time, the hole continued to widen until Termina was fully exposed, and by the time of this writing, it is now its own land across the Waker Straits.'"

Hazen set the book down slowly. As he sat back, Saval took a breath and read, "'Not much is known about Majora's Mask, nor about Termina itself. It is a land of great magic, not unlike Hyrule itself, but its histories and mysteries have been lost to time, Majora's Mask included.'"

"So that wasn't as helpful as we thought it would be," Tessen muttered.

Link rubbed his chin as Saval reclined in her chair, her jaw ticking. "Lost to time . . . or perhaps hidden."

Zelda shot him a look. "You think someone doesn't want to know about Termina?"

"Didn't," Link corrected. "Whoever they were, they can't possibly still be alive now."

"But why?" Hazen asked. "What's the point, especially since Termina is now part of the empire?"

"Perhaps they had something to hide," Link muttered, gaze dark.

Tessen and Hazen exchanged a glance. Well . . . that was possible, but what could they--

"Maybe it was the mask."

Everyone turned to stare at Irene. She shifted under Hazen's intense blue eyes and said a bit defensively, "It makes sense, doesn't it? We already know the mask is immortal, since it's from way long ago and it's still here, and we know it's violent. Who says it didn't destroy any information about it and Termina so no one could beat it?"

There was a moment of dumbfounded silence as everyone thought through her reasoning. "That could very well be possible," Link said. "Knowledge can be a great weapon--sometimes even greater than a sword."

"So if the mask destroyed all the information on it and Termina, then why did it?" Saval asked, leaning forward. "It has to have a reason other than the sake of destruction."

Hazen was still staring at Irene. For a moment she thought he was angry, but he wasn't. He watched her meet his gaze with a defiant lift of her chin and felt his lips twitch.

"Hazen--"

"Yes?" He turned back to the table, and Irene let loose a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. She folded her hands together and listened as Link said, "If it's evil, then our best defense is the Master Sword and Zelda."

"I have sealing powers," Zelda added, holding up her hand. A slight golden light shone from the back of it, illuminating a triangle. "They haven't been what they used to be, after a century, but I can hold it back."

"Does Majora have any weaknesses?" Link asked.

The four exchanged a quick glance. Hazen shrugged. "It likes fire."

"Then we'll set up water defenses," the Hero decided. "Now, let's talk about those doors."

"Sahasrahla said they were calling to us last time," Irene said, scooting her chair closer to the table. "Does that mean anything?"

"It could mean a few things," Zelda said. "It could mean it knows who you are, it could mean it's helping you against Majora, it could mean it's simply an escape method for when things get close. Until we know more, we can't say for sure what the purpose of those Doors really is."

"It doesn't seem to have any rhyme or reason for where it drops us," Tessen added. "The only thing all these places have in common is that they're all Hyrule, in one form or another."

"Do you think you could influence them at all?" Link asked.

Saval shook her head. "We don't think so. Last time, we thought about going home, but we landed here."

"And there's no reason for this, you say," Link muttered. But Zelda was frowning.

"Are you sure about that?"

Saval blinked. "What do you mean?"

Zelda shook her head a bit. "It just doesn't seem right. The Doors of Time are a holy object--they may not operate on laws or reason that we humans can understand, but there is always a reason for what they do."

"We can't know that, though--" Tessen tried to argue.

"Oh?" Zelda countered. "Can't we? When the Hero of Time tried to pull the Master Sword, he was locked in limbo for seven years--the exact amount of time needed to grow him into an adult. When the Hero of Twilight walked through them, they led him into the Temple of Time as it was before it fell into ruin--allowing him to claim items he needed for his quest. When you three fell through, they led you to Irene, and now to us."

"Those Doors do not act on whims," Zelda finished, her voice softer. "If they brought you here, it was to meet Link and I, so we could help you on your quest. That is also Irene's purpose here."

"But I'm not--"

"You three," Link interrupted, making Hazen, Tessen and Saval jump. "Can you say for certain that you would have realized Majora's role in destroying Termina's history if Irene hadn't been here?"

"No," Hazen said quietly, making Irene huff.

"Fine, but--"

"Irene," Zelda said softly, taking the witch's hand. "Take it from me, who held back the Calamity for a century, from Link, who slept in stasis for that same time. This is not mere coincidence--and neither is your presence. The goddesses have a plan--accept your role in it."

Irene sat back, her jaw working. Hazen watched her for a moment, worry and guilt coiling in his stomach, but Link brought them back to task quickly. "Until the mask makes its appearance again, which it will, if your stories carry a pattern, then we have a lot of work to do."

"What do you have in mind?" Zelda asked.

"I'm going to the Great Plateau," the Hero said. "If the Doors exist in this time, we need to find them quickly. As for you, Zel, I need you to hold off on clearing the Malice. Your sealing powers have to be at full power when we face Majora."

His face was hard, the face of a warrior preparing for battle, but it softened when he looked at Zelda. His eyes flicked down to her belly for a moment, and in that moment Hazen felt another weight, another life, fall on his shoulders. He bit back the apology that arose, but Link saw it in his face anyway.

He turned from his smiling wife and offered a smile of his own to Hazen. "Don't worry," he said. "Zelda has more than just her sealing powers for protection."

Hazen nodded, trying to force a smile, and missed Irene's glance. "Now," Link said louder, facing the group. "You four, I need you to prepare as well. Practice your sword skills, research more on Majora, study up on spells, do everything in your power to make sure we can defeat the mask."

Somewhere along the meeting they had all stood up, hands fisted at their sides. And later, as he lay awake in the guest room, Hazen stared out the window at the moonlight reflecting off the pond.

There was something about heroes, he thought. Some quality they had that made others want to fight even harder. Maybe it was the knowledge that they had already reached greatness, or maybe it was the battle-hardened look in their eyes. Link had it, his father had it, Ilayen and Dark and all the other knights of the Alliance had it.

As they always did, thoughts of his father turned to thoughts of the war. He hadn't thought of the war in a long time, Hazen reflected. Since he and Tessen had sat in the library before their horse ride. But it seemed more relevant now than it had before, in the form of Tessen's question to Hazen, in the quiet of the library.

Do you want to experience it?

Hazen had said no. But was that really his answer? If so, then why was he here? It may not have been a war like the one his parents fought, but it was a war all the same. People would die. People had already died. People were at risk. Homes had been taken, ripped away with a few words, in mere seconds. And through all of it, he'd continued on, looking for a way to fight Majora's Mask.

He didn't have to. He thought he didn't want to. But the more he thought about it, it didn't really come down to wanting or not. It came down to an honor of sorts. He could leave, and be branded a coward for the rest of his life, however long it lasted. He could abandon Irene and Sahasrahla and drag his friends through the Doors until they reached home, and stayed put. He could give up the chance to answer the question that haunted him for years, the chance to really, truly know.

Or he could stay. He could help bring an end to whatever Majora had in mind, whether it was the destruction of the world or Termina or anything else, and finally understand.

It was simple, really. Hazen wondered if it had been this easy for his parents, when they had their choice. He turned over, away from the moonlight, and closed his eyes. Perhaps he'd ask them when he returned home.

And that is it! I hope you all enjoy, I feel like there's a hammer slamming into my skull, so I'm going to bed now. Goodnight and stay safe, everyone!