Chapter 12: The Trial
The light that had taken Link and Tatl out of the Giant's chamber had placed them outside the temple, next to the entrance. It had also done the same for the princess, who was now extremely confused about the entire situation. This was before she noticed that Dreek had gone and Link had arrived.
"Wh-what's going on? Dreek, what is…who are you?!" Felena suddenly screamed.
"Uh, I am…" Link began, then fell short.
"This is Link." Tatl quickly added. "He's a fr- he knows Dreek and he will bring no harm to you." I hope.
"So where is Dreek then? What happened to him after he vanished in that light?"
"It is long and complicated. Perhaps it is best if we got you back to the palace, and then we can talk." Tatl suggested.
"Ah, father! He will be glad to hear I am safe. Yes, let us talk back at the palace."
The three fell silent after that and were all content with walking and not speaking.
---
Dreek had left the palace a little after dawn and because it was now long after midday, the guards posted by the main gate were growing tired of keeping a constant watch for so long. Some of them were actually good friends with Dreek having been trained in the same regiment so being ordered to watch out and arrest him was not only tiresome, but also difficult to accept.
Still, orders are orders.
One of the soldiers was walking back down towards the western side of the palace where he almost missed the oncoming movement. When looking again when he turned around to go back up, he noticed the familiar head-dress that the princess usually wore. Going by the somewhat vague description given by the King, it was also possible to tell that the human was coming back with her.
"Alert the King." The soldier called down to another below. "The princess has returned, along with the human!"
The soldier quickly darted down the hall to the King's chamber to inform him of the boy's return. It did not take long to get the attention of the King as he soon left his throne and was marching towards the main gate just as Link and Felena arrived. The doors were opened revealing Link, standing silently, and princess Felena running to her father.
"Father!" She cried.
"Felena! It gladdens my heart to see you still alive." The King replied, happily embracing his daughter. After the embrace he then turned to Link with a stern face.
"Guards, arrest this boy. Take all his weapons and possessions as well." The King ordered.
"What? Why?" Both Felena and Tatl asked together, Tatl quickly regretting revealing herself.
"I shall not explain myself here. Perhaps the boy will be able to when put on trial. Take him to court."
A number of deku guards surrounded Link and quickly disarmed him of all his weapons including the bow belonging to general Berrin, but nobody seemed to recognise it. They also took the Ocarina of Time which Link wasted no time to protest.
"Leave that with me." Link poorly demanded.
"All your possessions will be withheld until after your trial, also depending on the outcome of the trial. If you are innocent, you will get this back." A guard stated.
Accepting, but not liking, defeat, Link allowed himself to be taken down the long familiar corridors to a different part of the palace that seemed to be much bigger than the other sections he had been to the day before as Dreek.
Eventually, they made their way to a large set of double doors that led to what Link presumed to be the court. It was quite a basic room in terms of design with long wooden benches and an unseeingly high podium at the far end. Sat at the top of the podium was the deku King with a small wooden mallet at his side in place of his large spear.
"Place the defendant in the stand." the King ordered.
The guards proceeded to sit Link behind a smaller podium set apart from the King's where every person present could see him. From this point Link could now see another set of wooden benches to the other side of the King, all of whom were seated there Link recognised as the council members.
Once the guards had made sure Link was in place, they all moved back to surround the exits and any extra sat down to watch the trial go forward. The two who had manned the main entrance opened it on command to let the princess walk in and also sit down to watch the trial. Despite being of royalty, it seemed only the King or Queen had any authority in a trial.
"Are we all present?" The King began. "Good. Now begins the trial for the possible murder or kidnapping of a soldier missing in action."
"Wait, do you mean Dreek?" Tatl quickly asked.
"Yes, and just who are you? It is rare to see a fairy outside of their realm."
"I am Tatl, your highness. I am one of Link's companions."
"Link is his name? That saves some time." The King said, creating a small 'eep' from Tatl.
"Father, if I might ask, why do you make these claims? It is thanks to Dreek that I am still alive and escaped from the temple." Princess Felena mentioned.
"So do you know where he is now?" the King asked.
"Ah. No, I do not." The princess sighed sadly.
"Richard. Come to the stand please."
A tall deku, easily recognised as the King's personal Butler, stepped forward from one of the benches and stood before the King and the counsel.
"Now, tell everyone here what you saw this morning."
"I saw Dreek, my son, leave the palace grounds. He pulled out that fairy and then somehow turned into the boy seated there. I saw this all with my own eyes." The Butler, Richard, explained.
Satisfied with his Butler's honesty, the King now turned back to Link.
"Dekus are unable to use magic of any kind, so explain to me how you were able to take the form of one of my men."
"We met by chance, and also by the consequence of a curse." Link began, deciding to tell the truth. "The Dreek you saw was truly him, but he now only exists in a mask. You saw him because I was wearing the mask and that allowed him to come out in his own body, with some slight characteristics of my own, hence the green hat."
"What exactly placed this curse on him?" the King asked.
"The curse was placed on me by the mask that Dreek spoke of, Majora. Dreek just happened to combine with me as it was easier to fuse spirits to change a form than to do it purely by magic. I was healed, though, and that is how Dreek now resides in a mask and I have my body back."
"And I don't suppose you have proof to back up this claim, do you?"
Link didn't answer, but instead reached to his invisible pack, which Link was glad the guards did not find, and pulled out the deku mask that Dreek resided in.
"This is Dreek when I am not wearing him." Link said, showing the mask so all could see.
"Hmmm, I shall believe you for now. And my daughter, it was the two of you who helped rescue her?"
"Yes, it was. Alone, we infiltrated the Woodfall temple and-"
Don't mention Odolwa! Dreek suddenly said.
"And?" the King repeated.
"And managed to slay the one who had kidnapped her in the first place." Link finished.
The King placed his head in his hands and looked to his council to find any looks of discontent. Finding none, he turned back to Link with what seemed to be a humble smile.
"You have done a great service to my people so I give you my thanks. You are-"
"I wouldn't be so quick to your verdict, King Tevelos."
Having appeared from seemingly nowhere, the skull kid who wore Majora's Mask now floated in the middle of the room, staring at Link with the blood red eyes. The fact that only Tatl seemed to notice was that he was here alone with no fairy fluttering by his side.
"Majora! Where is Tael?" Tatl asked.
"Your brother? He stepped out of line, so I got rid of him."
"So where is he?" Tatl asked again, louder than before.
"He's dead. He was getting on my nerves." Majora answered casually, as if it were nothing.
"Dead? M-my brother is…dead?" Tatl said, her voice obviously shaking.
"Yes, and a horrid shame it is. Now on to more important matters." Majora uncaringly said, now looking at the King.
"Why have you interrupted this trial, stalchild?" the King asked.
"I come to bring news relating to the current trial. Yes, he saved your beloved and beautiful daughter, but he neglected to mention how he did it. For you see, this beast he claimed to have killed, it was no beast. It was Odolwa."
There were a number of gasps and an expected quarrel between all the council members. The King hit the podium with his mallet a number of times to ask for silence, but the information was too much and the row continued.
"He killed Odolwa and had every intention to do so from the start. This is murder of the highest degree, and behold," Majora raised the skull kid's arm which also lifted the mask that Odolwa wore out of the invisible pack it seemed to have vanished to. "The boy even has proof of this. The mask that Odolwa wore is now in his possession, likely nothing more to him than the spoils of war."
The gasps that followed were even greater than before and some were even close to tears. The King managed to keep his composure and was ready to issue more commands.
"Guards! Take this boy and keep him in one of the cells. I must think of the boy's verdict."
Without warning, the guards were upon Link and had forced his hands behind his back - with Tatl still in them - and tied them up with a strong, thick vine.
Majora laughed silently to himself at the situation the boy was in. His smugness gave way to letting Link have the Odolwa mask back which could have been a potentially big mistake, but at this point of time it didn't matter to him. For now, he would go back to the Clock Tower and continue to work on his revenge against the world.
---
Once Link had arrived at the cell, the vine was cut loose and he was thrown in with the door quickly locked shut behind him. The cell itself was expectantly basic with the same wooden walls as the palace and tough bamboo criss-crossed to make a door. The ground was the bare earth like that outside of the palace but with no room for comfort with the ground being hard mud beneath the small layer of grass scattered here and there.
Spying no way to escape, Link crawled into a corner and set Tatl down by his side so she could rest. She had stopped crying now, but she was still plainly upset and kept her thoughts to herself. Link wanted to share his with Dreek, but he spoke first with other matters on his mind.
Is Tatl alright? Dreek asked in concern.
"No. She's trying, but…" Link trailed off.
I wonder if she realises that by playing the Song of Time, we can go back and Tael will still be alive.
"She may have, but I doubt it's enough to absolve all the sadness."
Link looked down at Tatl to see her with her head between her legs quietly muttering to herself. He couldn't help but share her sorrow for some reason. What pained him more was that he realised perhaps the day before he would have been angry at her for showing a sign of weakness. What had he become?
All this time he had kept trying to be his older self, plagued by anger and hatred for anyone who had taken anything from him, but now that he had lost everything, and only just started to get it back, he was the young child he once was before any of this had affected him and changed his life. He didn't want to be a scared little boy again. He had to be strong, but where would he start? All he could think of was the here and now.
"Dreek, what's going on?" Link asked. Dreek sighed.
The King is-
"Hold on."
Link removed the deku mask from his pack and donned it so Dreek was on the outside. The stifled grunt of pain was enough to alert Tatl to what was going on and also enough to bring her out of her slump to make her look. She was glad for the distraction.
So Tatl may know as well. Link explained.
Dreek acknowledged the sign of gesture with a mental nod, and took note of how much he had changed in so short a time. It made him scared that he had changed that much himself to cause Link's change. He was not as concerned as Link was of it, though, so directed his attention to Tatl instead.
"Tatl?"
"Dreek? What happened to you?" Tatl asked, fighting to keep back any more tears.
"It doesn't matter. What matters now is how we can get out of this mess." Dreek answered. He was surprised at how Tatl so selflessly asked about Dreek and didn't care about herself.
"So why are we here then? Majora, he mentioned the name Odolwa then the King became mad. Why?"
"Odolwa is the one who I fought in the temple…and he is also our God."
Your God?!
"So, when the King heard Link had killed him…" Tatl began.
"Yes, he jumped to unnecessary conclusions and locked us in here, but it's not as simple as that." Dreek finished.
"It's not?" Link asked, speaking instead of thinking.
"No. You see, Odolwa was a deity that roamed among his people. He helped keep our lands alive and taught us of justice and peace. Sadly, a day came when a horrid darkness threatened to cover our land, so Odolwa sacrificed himself to protect our people and to give our land continuing life.
"This happened thousands of years ago and Odolwa has been thought to have been dead all this time. The fact that he was alive would be a miracle to the people, but because we are the ones who killed him, and freed him of the curse that was placed upon him, nobody would look kindly upon us and why we are here."
Tatl shuffled her way to the back wall so she had something to rest on. Clearly she was looking better and the distraction was working, but the only thing that really mattered was for how long.
"Wait, you mentioned a curse. Why would you assume there was a curse?" Link asked.
"You mean ignoring the completely irrational behaviour of a friendly deity? Odolwa blessed our lands so they may live after his death, so when he was revived - which seems the only logical explanation for his return - he was revived in a cursed state, and so our land was cursed with it."
Everyone seemed to agree with this theory and chose to accept it.
"So how do we get out of here?" Tatl asked.
"We don't. Everything we had has been taken from us and the guard keeps the keys on him at all times. We only go free if we are let free. There's nothing else we can do for now, so we should get some rest and hope for a good verdict."
Tatl silently agreed then tried to curl up in the corner to get comfortable. It didn't work, but she didn't want to fidget or bother with anywhere else. It only took a few minutes for her thoughts to find that of her brother again, but she was taking it much better than before by keeping her feelings inside and not out.
Dreek let Link have his body back as it would be much easier to sleep as a human than a deku with no large flowers or soft earth to lie on. Link lay on his back staring at the roof of the cell trying to figure out his life and what it all meant. He would never get an answer, but he still tried.
---
The King had surprisingly spent the previous night going over a number of scrolls trying to find as much as possible on their ancient god, Odolwa. Having felt he had found enough, he let himself fall asleep in his chambers and the most luxury the palace had to offer.
The next morning the entire council, the King and the princess, had all assembled in the conference room next to the court. As usual, there was a constant rabble from all the council, all arguing different things. The princess sat next to the King where both had a bit more distance between them and the nearest council members, just to show their authority.
"Alright, settle down, settle down." the King ordered. "We are all here to decide the fate of the human boy we currently have in custody. I would like to hear the council's opinion first."
Before another burst of voices filled the room, High Councillor Seega stood to speak for the whole council by summarising what they spoke of the day before.
"The council agrees on one thing, sire, and that is this boy has killed our guardian deity with proof of his actions. We believe the punishment for this should be his own death." Seega announced.
"Hmm, I see. I would ask of you of your thoughts as to why Odolwa kidnapped my daughter in the first place."
"Ah," Seega said, caught off guard. "This had not crossed our minds."
"Perhaps he was going to sacrifice her to protect our land from this new darkness." One councillor suggested.
"Don't be a fool. The princess is the last of the royal line. If Odolwa were to sacrifice her then we would lose all ruling after the death of the king. We would fall into anarchy!" another councillor retorted.
"Father, what is your view on this?" Felena asked.
The King paused for a moment until he was sure that everyone was listening and that he felt what he was about to say was correct.
"I believe Odolwa was cursed." he said bluntly.
As expected of them, another large rabble broke out amongst the council with everyone saying what they thought whilst having no intention to listen to anyone else.
"The how and why are irrelevant," the King continued, "What matters is that Odolwa had been revived with this curse and were we to have found a cure to this curse then our guardian deity would be among us once more."
"Father, what are you implying?"
"If this boy had simply returned immediately after he had seen Odolwa, then we would have come to this same conclusion while he still lived and we may have found a cure. If he hadn't been so rash in his foolish actions, then Odolwa would live with us again!"
"But father, Odolwa was threatening to kill me. He almost did kill me! Had this child returned, I would have been killed before you could send anyone else to rescue me." Felena protested, irritated at her father's claim.
"You don't know that." the King quickly answered. "He may have left you alive so that we may be able to help him and if that were the case, then I wish the boy had left you so we could try to find a cure."
"So it doesn't matter what happened to me, so long as Odolwa lived, is that it?" Felena asked, now obviously angry.
"Of course!"
"Ah! I can't believe you! You wouldn't even care if your own daughter died so long as you could bring an old god back, one that might kill all of you no less."
"Felena, that's not what I-"
"No, I don't care anymore. You talk with your collection of indecisive old men for as long as you want, but I will have no more part in this. Just know you are making a mistake to punish this child for his actions."
Her outburst finished, she did not wait to hear another word as she left her place at the table and stormed out of the room in an angry manner. From behind the door on the opposite side, the King's butler was standing in wait for either the King or the princess to leave so that he may serve them as he always had done. Walking quickly so that he may catch up with the princess, he walked along side her to try and get a facial expression and how to first speak.
"Young miss, is something troubling you?" he eventually asked.
"That council is as loud as ever and father insists on letting his arrogance take control by listening to no other opinion save that of his own." Felena answered, huffing occasionally.
"Miss Felena, it is not good to harbour such anger. You should calm yourself." the butler suggested.
She sighed, "I know, I'm sorry."
"If I may be so bold as to ask, may this agitation stem from any possible stress you may have had when captured?" the butler asked.
"Hmm, possibly, and confusing feelings."
The two had, by now, started walking once again and unconsciously making their way towards the upper walls which had a good view of most of the forest and the top of the Clock Tower.
"Confusing feelings?"
"…Richard, I can talk to you freely, can't I?" Felena asked.
"Of course, Miss Felena. I would never judge you."
"I think…my feelings are towards Dreek." she slowly said.
"Commander Dreek?" Richard asked to confirm.
"Yes, your son. Yesterday, it was he who thought Odolwa, not the child locked up. Odolwa nearly killed me in that battle but it was Dreek who managed to stop him and save me despite all I told him and put him through."
Richard remained silent, intently listening to the tale the princess was telling him.
"I saw something in him that I have never seen before."
"And this is what you believe is giving you these odd feelings?" Richard asked. Felena simply nodded.
"Richard, I'm so confused. What should I do?"
Both had now reached the destination of the wall where they finally stopped to look out and see the whole of the forest. It still looked old and decayed, but life was slowly returning to it and if one looked hard enough, they might be able to see it.
"As a friend, I want to be able to comfort you, but as a father I want to help my son as well. For these circumstances, I am afraid there is nothing I can say that can compromise both of those roles. I believe this is something you will have to figure out on your own."
"Hm, thank you Richard. I shall think on this."
Richard left the princess alone to her thoughts and returned to the side of the conference room he was standing by before the princess had come out. Felena looked out to the Clock tower instead of her homeland, but was concentrating more on the evil-looking moon slowly falling to the ground.
It seemed unlikely for anyone to survive when the moon collided, and judging by how big it now looked, today was their final day on earth. If this was true, she did not want to leave with any regrets at all. If there was something she felt for Dreek, then she would act upon those feelings before the day was done. Sadly, the only problem was trying to understand if she did have feelings or not.
They had been around each other since their early childhood. They went to the same academy, lived in the same place and eventually worked in the same place until she pushed him away. All this time he had been after her heart and had always been shot down.
Why had she always denied him? Because she was still naïve and wanted an older, stronger man that she might love. Just now realising this, she felt foolish for her past expectations and ashamed of her past actions.
She quickly rid her mind of these thoughts as she was letting herself get sidetracked. What really mattered right now was how she felt, and this was not a matter that could be resolved instantly.
---
The day for Link had been long and uneventful. The sun was slowly dipping below the horizon which covered the forest in a dark orange glow. Not that this mattered to Link as he got no sunlight in his cell. The only light he had was of the torches set up on the opposite wall and even they were not that bright. This, Link guessed, was for fear of burning everything down.
The three cell-mates had spoken earlier and saw the reality that they were unlikely to escape or do anything else productive in this cycle of time, so it was merely a matter of waiting and hoping to be released. Regardless of their verdict, the plan was to find the Ocarina of Time and the rest of Link's belongings then go back to the first day again. If they didn't, they were bound to die when the moon finished its decent.
Right now, Link was curled up in the corner trying to rest in what comfort there was while Tatl remained awake as the watch. Her ears pricked up when she heard the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs at the far end.
"Link, wake up. Someone's coming." Tatl urgently whispered.
Link quickly got up and instinctively reached for the hilt of his blade, only to remember it was gone. He calmed his hand when the glow of a moving torch came towards them. All were surprised when, holding the torch, the deku princess appeared and unlocked the door.
"Felena?" Tatl asked to confirm.
"Shhh. You are being wrongly accused. Follow me and you may live." Felena whispered.
"May live? What does that mean?" Link questioned.
"Your verdict has been decided. You are to be executed at dawn." Felena hurriedly answered.
"At dawn?! Do they not realise there will be no dawn?!"
"My father surrounds himself with fools. Now hurry, we do not have much time."
She left the door open as she stood a little back from it, constantly watching the hall from which she had come as if guarding it. Tatl silently darted out, also trying to get a read of the princess but finding nothing to go on. Link slowly followed also checking to see if anyone was coming from behind. Once they were all sure they were alone, they quickly made for the upper levels.
Once clear of the holding cells, they had found their way to the many long corridors of the palace. It occurred to all of them how easy it might be to escape the palace once out of a cell showing how lax the guard was, or how cocky the King was.
"Where are you taking us?" Link whispered.
"I heard you-" Felena began, then suddenly stopped.
It only took the once repeated sound of a footstep for Felena to push Link aside and stuff him in the closest room which fortunately happened to be the room of a soldier who was still on duty. Making sure Tatl had followed him in; Felena closed the door behind them and leaned against the opposite wall. A moment later and a passing soldier came into view.
"Ah, princess. It is a surprise to see you out here." The soldier said when seeing the princess.
"A lot has happened today. I felt I should take a walk and think over some things." Felena said, faking a yawn.
"Princess, perhaps you should return to your room soon and rest a while. I can imagine these events are tiresome."
"I may do soon. Thank you for your concern."
The soldier nodded in thanks and continued down the hall. Felena waited until the soldier was out of sight and could no longer be heard before opening the door again. Moving quicker than before, Felena continued talking from where she had been cut off.
"I heard you made a bit of a fuss when the guards tried to take away an item of yours. I figure you would want it back, along with the rest of your belongings."
"And how will we get them back?" Link asked.
"Easily enough, but we have to remain silent and not be seen."
After that, they all did fall silent for fear that any more words would reveal themselves and ruin their escape. There were a few more narrow escapes from the sight of the guards on the way to one of the sentry towers, but they all still managed to make it there without the knowledge of Link's escape being known.
Once they had arrived, Link hid outside this time as there was an open archway leading to a small garden perfect for not being seen. Felena opened the door to the lower level of the tower and relieved the guard of his duty, using the excuse that he should go and rest with his shift almost over. Quickly leading him into the tower, Felena closed the door and assured them all that it was now safe to speak again.
"Your belongings are being held one floor above us on racks. We can get there by the stairs, but there are things I must know before I can let you free."
Link stayed silent, awaiting the questions. Tatl tried to get a read of both people here and got an obvious look of seriousness on their faces. She said nothing to interfere.
"What were your intentions when you first came here? You surely could not known of my situation until after you had arrived."
"Correct. We came to free the giant in these lands. We need them to help stop the moon from falling and defeat Majora, the mask that skull kid wore."
"And what of Dreek's condition? Do you know of any way to reverse it?" Felena asked, not sounding hopeful but just curious.
"I know of no way to help him, so he remains sealed in the mask."
"I see. Then I wish you luck on your journey. Now let us get your things."
Felena lead the way to the staircase joined to the side of the circular tower that did lead to a room above. The room below had been filled with an unorganised mess of boxes and other unwanted items but above there were a number of neat shelves with an assortment of objects made so it was easy to find something.
Because of this, it did not take Link long to find his sword, newly acquired bow and the precious Ocarina of Time. He also found Odolwa's mask below and a few other masks that Link had not seen before. At this point he seemed to remember the words of the mask man that the more masks he obtained, his power would grow. Taking a pig-faced mask labelled as the Mask of Scents and a strangely marked red eye seemingly called the Mask of Truth, he put them with Odolwa's mask and slotted them all into the magical pack he always wore.
Without warning and surprising everyone in the tower, the sound of a loud gong filled the air alerting everyone in the palace to its existence. Everyone knew what this meant, and for Link and Tatl, it was not good.
"That is the alarm. The guard must have gone back and noticed you were missing. You must leave, now!"
Rushing over to a door on their level leading outside on to a wall, Felena stood aside allowing both renegades to leave then followed them out and left with them. They had ran halfway along the wall before Link stopped, having noticed a number of guards coming along from the next wall. Turning to run the other way, the same sight could be seen.
"Felena, is there any other way out from here besides jumping?" Link asked quickly.
"No, we are trapped." She answered.
"Link, we have no choice. We have to play the song now!" Tatl exclaimed.
The soldiers running along the length of the walls had now reached their respective watchtower and were now clumsily making their way through.
"I know. Felena, we must leave now to save this world. We won't be coming back here."
"I understand. Go, and tell Dreek…I'll be waiting for him when he returns."
Accepting the request, Link held the Ocarina of Time in his hands and played the Song of Time as fluently and quickly as possible. Just as the doors of the towers opened, Link and Tatl had vanished in a faint blue light leaving no evidence of their presence behind.
The soldiers all surrounded the princess expecting to see the boy with her. Some looked over the wall to see if he had jumped off but it was now too dark to tell. When they established he was not here, they all left with others offering to escort the princess back and all being denied the pleasure. Instead, she just stood and stared at the moon which stared back.
"I will wait for you, Dreek. This may be my final day, but I shall wait forever until the time I can be with you again, my love."