Phew, this took a while, but it's done!
Enjoy! ;)
Chapter 8: The Hero of Time's Awakening
The moment Link and his friends arrived back at Hyrule Castle's drawbridge… everything looked horribly wrong, especially the skies: they were covered with a black curtain of thunderclouds as a few lightning bolts struck down before the downpour finally started. The heroes were in awe, wondering how did this happen all of a sudden as they glanced at the closed drawbridge.
A few seconds later, the drawbridge began to lower. Somehow, this felt way too familiar for our heroes… And before long, they started to hear galloping sounds coming from Hyrule Town after the drawbridge was completely lowered.
They were quick to react and move out of the way. The horse was a majestic white, and much to their surprise, they saw Impa and Zelda riding it.
"*gasp* ZELDA!" Link called out. Zelda heard him and turned around to see him and his friends.
"Everyone!" she exclaimed. "Impa, stop the horse!"
"I can't, milady." Impa shook her head. "We'll be killed!"
Sighing, Zelda decides to toss them the Ocarina of Time, the Royal Family's most treasured possession. But her throwing was a bit too much, and the Ocarina ended up falling into the moat, which didn't go unnoticed by our heroes.
Then, after the white horse disappeared into the distance, the heroes heard the neigh of another horse from behind them. They turned around… and saw that the rider of this black horse with red mane and tail was none other than Ganondorf.
That's where realization struck our heroes like a lightning bolt; those were the exact same moments, sans Zelda tossing the Ocarina to them, that has occurred in their strange dream! Only that now it was no dream; all of this was real. Their dream just literally became real.
"Arrrrgh! I lost her!" Ganondorf muttered in frustration. He then glanced down at the heroes. "You, over there! You must have seen the white horse gallop past just now… Which way did it go?! Answer me!"
The heroes knew that Ganondorf was not a trusting man ever since he looked extremely ominous already in their dream even if they didn't know who he was before. Not to mention that they strongly believed in Princess Zelda's words about him, and they were not going to let her down. They clenched their fists in anger as Link declared:
"We'll NEVER tell you!" he hissed angrily as he draws out his sword and shield while the Mario cast stood ready to fight, also keeping a hard glare at Ganondorf.
"So you think you can protect them from me… You've all got guts." Ganondorf smirked. "Heh heh heh… You want a piece of me?! Very funny! I like your attitude!"
He then rose his left palm, conjuring an orb of magic in it, and blasted it at the heroes, knocking all of them away on the ground as they screamed. In the midst of that, Link also ended up dropping the Fairy Ocarina in the process as it fell out of his pocket.
"Guys!" Navi cried out.
"Pathetic little fools! Do you realize who you are dealing with?! I am Ganondorf! And soon I will rule the world!" Ganondorf declared and made his horse gallop away… "And I'll gladly take this…" but not before snatching the Fairy Ocarina from the ground next to Link, thinking it was the Ocarina of Time.
"N-No…! That's… Saria's Ocarina…!" Link thought, seeing Ganondorf taking the ocarina before galloping off.
The heroes managed to sit up and watch Ganondorf's horse gallop into the distance until it was nowhere to be seen. Just by thinking about what they got themselves into sent a chill down their spines.
"Ganondorf…" Mario whispered.
"That man is no slouch, that's for sure!" Toad remarked.
"Golly… He might be even more dangerous than Bowser!" Luigi exclaimed.
"At this state, we're no match for him at all…" Peach lamented.
"You know, I didn't mean to change the subject, but I'm still wondering what the princess tossed to us." Yoshi interfered.
"Oh, right!" Link said. "I saw it falling into the moat! I'll go get it!"
With that, Link leapt into the moat and dove underwater to retrieve the Ocarina of Time.
"*gasp* is this…?" he thought before a bright light from the ocarina suddenly engulfed him.
He suddenly found himself standing inside a building he had never been before. He glanced at his surroundings: stained glass windowpanes lined the clear white walls on either side, black and white tiles filled the floor alternating like a chessboard, and a red velvet carpet was stretching all the way towards an odd stone altar standing right in front of a door with the symbol of the Triforce above it.
Most of the area was obscured with a strange fog, but by squinting his eyes, he saw a familiar figure up ahead standing right in front of the altar with its back turned. It was Zelda!
"Link…can you hear me? It's me, Zelda…" she spoke in a somber tone. "Link, when you hold this ocarina in your hand… I won't be around anymore…" she happened to be clutching what it seems to be an exact replica of the Ocarina of Time in her hands close to her chest as her eyes were closed. "I wanted to wait for you and the others, but I couldn't delay any longer…"
She then turns around to face him, still keeping the closed eyes.
"At least I could leave you the ocarina and this melody… This song opens the Door of Time…" putting the ocarina into her lips, she plays the Song of Time on it. Link copied it, learning the Song of Time.
"Now, Link. Play this melody in front of the altar in the Temple of Time. You and the others must protect the Triforce!"
His vision fades…
"…ink… …Link…!" Link hears echoes of someone's voice as he began to regain conscious. "Link!" it was Navi calling out to him.
"Huh? What?" Link blinked while looking around, noticing that he was back at Hyrule Field with his friends surrounding him showing looks of concern.
"Link, what happened to you? You were in a daze! We were so worried!"
"Oh, sorry about that. It's just… When I touched the Ocarina of Time, I suddenly had a vision…"
"A vision?" Peach asked.
"Yes…" with a look of determination, Link told his friends, "Everyone… We have all the Spiritual Stones, the three Platinum Stars, and the Ocarina of Time… We have to hurry to the Temple of Time!"
Everyone nodded and went towards Hyrule Town to look for the Temple of Time.
Meanwhile…
"CURSES!" Ganondorf angrily crushes the Fairy Ocarina in his hand, breaking it into pieces. "This is not the Ocarina of Time. It looks like it, but it's different."
"And what exactly is the difference, genius?" the same large figure from before questioned.
"The ocarina is blue, and has the symbol of the Triforce. This one had none of those." he then had flashbacks about when he confronted the heroes previously. "You tricked me, kid… And it makes me so mad!"
"Say, doesn't he have the Ocarina of Time now? If he and his pals have all the keys, we could follow them, you know…" the figure smirked.
"…Of course! If they're really heading to the Temple of Time now, they could very well lead us to the Sacred Realm!" Ganondorf exclaimed in realization.
"And that place is where the Triforce and the Grand Star of Magic are, right?"
"Yes. You know, no matter what, you never fail to disappoint me… Bowser."
"It is a pleasure, Lord Ganondorf. Now, let's move already!"
Oh, snap…
Back with the heroes…
"So this is the Temple of Time…" Link looked around as he and his friends entered the Temple of Time. "Looks very similar to the place I was during that vision…"
The Mario cast, however, was more interested on the large door at the very end of the room with an altar in front of it.
"And that door… Could it be the Door of Time?" Mario wondered.
"Is there anything behind it? I'm getting curious now!" Yoshi exclaimed with anticipation.
"Only one way to find out." Navi said, flying close to the altar. "Oh, hey! Look over here!" the group approached the altar. "There are three hollows and an inscription here…" it says:
Ye who owns three Spiritual Stones and three Platinum Stars
Stand with the Ocarina of Time
And play the Song of Time
Remembering the words Zelda spoke to him, Link took out the Ocarina of Time and played the Song of Time. Eventually, the three Spiritual Stones flew out of Link's pocket while the three Platinum Stars flew out from the Mario cast. Both types of objects hovered into the air before the Spiritual Stones descended down to the altar on their respective spots.
The Platinum Stars, however, after dancing around in the air for a bit, begin to coalesce, and after a bright glow, the three small stars merged together into a single bigger platinum star, now looking more like a Grand Star.
Just then, the Triforce symbol above the Door of Time glowed golden as the door opens up, revealing a passageway, where the Grand Star zips into before the heroes could even move.
"So the three Spiritual Stones fixed themselves onto this altar… while the three Platinum Stars just merged together into a single, bigger star. What was even the point of the latter's occurrence?" Toad questioned.
"Well, we can't judge things just by seeing what happened to them." Luigi replied with a shrug. "Maybe it could be something useful!"
"Come on! Let's go see what's over there!" Yoshi called out.
They all went into the passageway, where there was a large platform in the middle of the room shaped like a hexagon, with three levels of height. At the topmost level, there was a small pedestal with the symbol of the Triforce carved at the front, with a bare sword thrust down into it, and the Grand Star that just flew inside was hovering above it.
Navi flew forward a few feet, where the heroes heard her gasp:
"*gasp* everyone, isn't that…?!" she cried in astonishment, flying towards the sword. "It's that legendary blade… The Master Sword!"
"Master Sword?" Link asked. "I've never heard of it."
"A friend of the Deku Tree told me about it!"
Link and his friends decided to approach the Master Sword, and sure enough, it does possess signals that describes it as a legendary blade: for one, it was in perfect condition as if it was never even wielded in the first place. Its deep purple hilt was long, with turquoise leather straps decorating it, and its crossguards were shaped like spread wings with a golden diamond-shaped gem in the middle. The shining royal blue blade itself was slightly thinner than the rest of its length and it bears the mark of the Triforce during the transition between hilt and blade.
As they approached the pedestal, the Grand Star that remained immobile aside from spinning in the air suddenly floats right above the Mario cast's heads as they looked up at it in awe.
"What is that star doing…?" they thought before they turned their attention to Link, who was ready to pull out the Master Sword.
"If I have this sword…" he thought, griping both hands on the hilt. "…will I be able to defeat him?"
Using all his might, Link pulls out the sword from its pedestal. All of a sudden, blue light began to envelop everyone. At the same time, the Grand Star circles around the Mario cast, engulfing them in a white light as everyone felt their bodies going numb before everything went white.
The heroes suddenly had a vision showing Ganondorf right in front of their eyes. Alongside him was Bowser, only that he was obscured by shadow so the heroes couldn't yet see him.
"Geh heh heh! Excellent work!" Ganondorf chuckled. "As my new partner thought, you held the keys to the Door of Time! You have led us to the gates of the Sacred Realm… Yes, we owe it all to you!"
They both shared an evil laugh as the vision begins to fade.
"Link… Mario… Luigi… Peach… Yoshi… Toad… Wake up…" an old man's voice suddenly called out to the heroes. "Awaken… our chosen ones!"
As they all began to regain consciousness, the first thing they heard was sounds of flowing water. When they opened their eyes, they eyed at the water: there was no surface beneath it, yet it somehow maintained a form as if it was solid ice. Looking around, they saw that there were more platforms, each with a unique color, surrounding them, so they quickly concluded that they were standing on one as well. When they looked up, they were surprised to see that they were standing in the middle of a black void, with cascades of water flowing down all over the place.
What made them even more surprised was the fact that there was a man standing at the platform that was right in front of them. The man was bald, with white beard as the only facial hair he sports due to his old age. His clothing consisted of a heavy orange robe, with its sleeves covering his hands, and a red embroidered trim was around his neck, stretching down all the way to the bottom of the robe.
"I am Rauru, one of the ancient Sages…" the man spoke. "Ages ago, we ancient Sages built the Temple of Time to protect the entrance to the Sacred Realm… This is the Chamber of Sages, inside the Temple of Light… The Temple of Light, situated in the very center of the Sacred Realm, is the last stronghold against Ganondorf's evil forces."
"Ganondorf's evil for-…?" Link felt his throat before he could even finish that sentence. What happened to his voice?! It sounded much deeper, yet he could still hear just a little of his old voice in it. Seeing Link's sudden shock, Rauru tells him:
"Link… Don't be alarmed… Look at yourself…!"
Taking a deep breath, Link looks down at himself and lets out a silent gasp of shock. He was now taller than he used to be, though his childhood green raiment appeared to have grown with him, with the same green cap, now big enough to fit, the same leather belt at the waist, and the same leather boots, now for adult size. He was also wearing a white long undershirt with white trousers to match, and leather bracers were covering his forearms and his hands in a fingerless-glove style. Glancing behind his shoulder, he saw that he had the Master Sword strapped to his back, sheeted in an ornately decorated scabbard, as well as the Hylian Shield, which was previously too big and too heavy for him to wield as a child, but now, it felt like he was still wearing the Deku Shield.
"Wh-What happened?" he stuttered, still not yet used to his new voice.
"Look, Link! You're big now! You've grown up!" Navi exclaimed in surprise.
"…Link?! Is that really you?" Link heard a familiar voice from behind him. When he looked back, he saw the shocked faces of the Mario cast, staring at him in awe since he was so different now. But the oddest thing he noticed was…
The Mario cast haven't changed at all!
Why did he change, but not them?
"Okay, what in the world just happened?" Link asked Rauru. "I pulled the Master Sword free, and then nothing…"
"The Master Sword – the evil-destroying sword that you pulled out of the Pedestal of Time – was the final key to the Sacred Realm." Rauru said. "The Master Sword is a sacred blade that evil ones may never touch… Only one worthy of the title of 'Hero of Time' can pull it from the Pedestal of Time… However, you were too young to be the Hero of Time… Therefore, your spirit was sealed here for seven years."
"Seven… YEARS?!" Link flinched. Even the Mario cast was surprised.
"Yes… And now that you are old enough, the time has come for you to awaken as the Hero of Time!"
"I'm the… Hero of Time?" Link breathed.
"How come we were sealed with Link? We're not the chosen wielders of the Master Sword." Mario asked, shaking his head and shrugging at the last sentence.
"And why haven't we aged, but Link did?" Luigi asked.
"For the answer to your first question, you all were together with Link, so you were sealed with him too."
"Oh. Makes sense." Mario nodded.
"And the answer to your second question… You all do recall seeing the three Platinum Stars combine together into a single bigger star, right?"
"We do." Toad replied.
"That star is known as the Grand Star of Time. It is a very powerful star that only people who do not belong to this world can wield its power. You all fit into that category, so the star unleashed its magic on you."
"And what did this magic did to us?" Yoshi asked.
"The Grand Star of Time has the power to prevent those who warp forward or back in time from aging or de-aging respectively. So, when you all were about to get sealed, the Grand Star of Time did just that on you, thus explaining why you kept your normal ages."
"Oh, wow…" Peach breathed. "So it went like we just used an ordinary time machine!"
"Indeed, you are correct."
"Oh, thank god we didn't change…" Luigi sighed in relief. "I'm still not quite ready yet to see myself seven years older."
"Well, do you all understand your destiny, chosen ones?" Rauru asked.
"We do." Link answered, still having to process the fact that HE was the Hero of Time.
"Good. But, remember… Though you opened the Door of Time in the name of peace… Ganondorf, the Gerudo King of Thieves, and his new partner, used it to enter this forbidden Sacred Realm!"
"Oh no…" the heroes thought. "And that partner that was with him… Who was he…?"
"They obtained the Triforce and the Grand Star of Magic from the Temple of Light, and with their power, they became the Kings of Evil… Their evil power radiated from the temples of Hyrule, and in seven short years, it transformed Hyrule into a world of monsters."
"All of that in just seven years?! But wait… What was that Grand Star of Magic he just mentioned?"
"My power now has only little influence, even in this Sacred Realm… Namely, this Chamber of Sages. But there is still hope… The power of the Sages remains. When the power of all the Sages is awakened… The Sages' Seals will contain all the evil power in the void of the Realm… I, Rauru, am one of the Sages… And…" he points at Link. "Your power to fight together with the Sages and your friends makes you the Hero of Time! The Hero of Time, chosen by the Master Sword!"
"Chosen by the Master Sword…? Is he saying that a literal sword chose me?! How is that possible?" Link thought, not believing that an inanimate object chose him to be its wielder.
"Keep my spirit with you all… Find the power of the other Sages, and add their might to your own! And so I shall grant you my power… in these!"
Rauru raises his hands into the air, and two shiny objects descended down towards our heroes. One of them was a yellow medallion with the symbol of Light carved into it, falling into Link's hands. The other object was a yellow Grand Star, falling into the Mario cast's hands.
"Hero of Time, what you hold is the Light Medallion, one of the six Sage Medallions. Heroes from Another World, in your possession is the Grand Star of Light, one of the six Grand Stars that the other Sages hold. I've stored some of my power into these. The more Medallions and Grand Stars you hold, the stronger you become."
As the heroes' vision turned white, they could hear Rauru's final words:
"Find the other Sages and save Hyrule!"
The heroes soon found themselves back at the Pedestal of Time. It seems that nothing has changed at first.
"I never knew we would be gifted with such a great destiny…" Link whispered.
"Neither did we…" Peach agreed. She then looks around, "Say, has it really been seven years?"
"Let's find out."
Everyone agreed and began to leave, until…
"I've been waiting for you, Chosen Ones…" an unfamiliar female voice came from behind them. They turned around and saw that the one who spoke appears to be a Sheikah, judging by her clothing.
"Who are you?" Mario asked.
"I am Sheik, survivor of the Sheikah…" the woman named Sheik answered, before looking at Link. "As I see you standing there holding the mythical Master Sword, you really do look like the legendary Hero of Time…"
"I… do?" Link blinked.
"Yes. Now, listen well to my words, all of you… When evil rules all, an awakening voice from the Sacred Realm will call those destined to be Sages who dwell in the five temples. One in a deep forest… One on a high mountain… One under a vast lake… One within the house of the dead…" Luigi paled up at this, as always. "One inside a goddess of the sand… Together with the Hero of Time and the Heroes from Another World, the awakened ones will bind the evil and return the light of peace to the world… This is the legend of the temples passed down by the Sheikah tribe."
"…inside a goddess of the sand, aaand done!" Toad thought; he had been writing down the locations Sheik described for them on a traveler's notebook (I'm referencing the fact that he's Captain Toad). "This should makes things easier for us!" after putting away his notebook, he resumed listening to Sheik.
"If you all believe the legend, you have no choice. You must look for the five temples and awaken the five Sages… In order to awaken all the other Sages, you must become even more powerful. You must travel over mountains… under water… and even through time…" Sheik steps aside, revealing the Pedestal of Time. "So if you want to return to your original time, return the Master Sword to the Pedestal of Time. By doing this, you all will travel back in time seven years…" she directs her gaze at Link. "You'll return to your child appearance…" she then switches her gaze to the Mario cast. "And the Grand Star of Time will unleash its power on you to prevent you from de-aging, so you'll always keep your normal ages when you travel in time."
"Well, I guess there will be some things to do when going back in time…" Link mentally shrugged.
"The time will come when you will have to return here quickly… I will teach this melody to you for when that time comes… The song to return you to the Temple of Time… The Prelude of Light…"
Sheik then takes out her harp and plays the aforementioned song. Link takes out the Ocarina of Time and copies the notes. He learns his first warp song: the Prelude of Light.
"Now back to the task at hand… One Sage is waiting for the time of awakening in the Forest Temple. The Sage is a girl I am sure you know…"
"A girl… Saria?!" Link thought in shock; could Saria actually be one of the Sages?
"Because of the evil power in the temple, she cannot hear the awakening call from the Sacred Realm… Unfortunately, equipped as you currently are, you cannot even enter the temple… But if you believe what I'm saying, you should head to Kakariko Village… Do you understand?"
"We do." Link responded for everyone.
"Good. And always remember, Hero of Time… As long as you hold the Ocarina of Time and the Master Sword, you hold time itself in your hands… We shall meet again!"
After that, Sheik throws a Deku Nut, and disappears in a flash.
"Once again with that…" Luigi remarked. "I'll never understand how the heck all these Sheikah do that…"
"Well, anyways… Let's head to Kakariko Village!" Navi exclaimed.
They headed for the exit of the Temple of Time, unaware about the drastic change the entirety of Hyrule has suffered…
To be continued…
A lot of questions from previous chapters are finally answered! The large figure working with Ganondorf was actually Bowser, the Platinum Stars form the Grand Star of Time... And what about that Grand Star of Magic? That question will only be answered at the final portion of the story!
Speaking of which, the idea I came up for all these Grand Stars are actually from a ROM Hack Mario 64 game done by the same guy who did Last Impact: a ROM Hack that combines Mario characters with the world of Ocarina of Time (I forgot the name of it). I really loved that ROM Hack and that gave me inspiration to come up with these special Grand Stars.
Finally, as you just saw at the end, I decided to make Sheik teach Link the Prelude of Light much earlier since the first time you actually require to go back is before the Shadow Temple, and that takes quite long and wouldn't make sense given what happens to Sheik after a certain cutscene.
Our heroes' fate turned out to be way deeper than they originally thought... Until the next chapter! Please review!