Chapter Twenty-Six: An Attempted Rescue
Navi fluttered down to the ground and began to hover towards the platform three hundred feet away. She made sure to stay as low to the ground as possible, so none of Ganondorf and Astralose's minions would see her. After she passed over one exceptionally large Moblin's foot, she found herself alongside of the platform. She floated up and came to a rest beside Majora's Mask, which was still sitting where it had originally been placed. She needed to get to the mask's backside, but the way it was sitting prevented this. That is why she pushed it just enough so that it was halfway over the edge of the platform and she could fly up inside of it.
She found two rough spots on the inside of the mask that she could use to grab. After her miniscule hands were clutching the mask's interior, she flew upward. The mask was surprisingly light and she was able to pick it up easily. She lifted the mask until she was twenty feet into the air and then used what little bit of fairy magic she could perform to send out sparks in all directions. She knew that she had been successful when she heard a piercing scream from below.
Link saw Majora's Mask rise into the air just as he was about to be tossed to his death. At first, he thought he might have been wrong about Majora's power having been vanquished, but when he saw the sparks discharge from behind it, he knew it was only Navi. He could recognize those sparks anytime; he had had them falling in front of his face during his entire adventure through Hyrule.
He heard Nylania scream. The Moblin that was supposed to be his executioner turned around to see what the commotion was. "I will stop you Majora!" shrieked Nylania. "I will release the Twilight!"
"No! You foolish girl!" shouted Astralose. "Don't use it yet!"
"I have to stop him! He'll kill us all!" She quickly closed her eyes. A moment later wisps of darkness emerged from her arms and legs and began to wrap themselves around her body. It only took a few seconds for her to become completely wreathed in the pitch-black Twilight. Her body disappeared within it, but the Twilight continued to expand rapidly. Astralose attempted to escape but he could not break through the Moblins around him that were trying to do the same thing. He was quickly enveloped within the Twilight, along with Ganondorf. Just before the Twilight reached Link, he watched as Navi and Majora's Mask were captured. A wave of blackness passed over his vision and he felt the Moblin's hands pull away.
The Hero of Time fell to his hands and knees in pain as he felt his body ripple from the inside out with a powerful energy. The anguish soon dissipated though, and Link found himself staring at a hairy, white paw. When he tried to gasp in surprise, he was shocked to hear a growl come out of his mouth. It was then that he noticed his pointed snout. He looked around and saw his gray-haired body and tail. What have I become? he wondered. However, the question was quickly driven out of his mind when he looked around and saw that everyone caught by the Twilight had been changed.
It seemed that all of Astralose and Ganondorf's minions had been transformed into strange beasts that Link had never seen before. He could see two types. The first type was two-legged but used its arms to walk around so that it appeared four-legged. It had dark gray skin covered with strange black markings. It also had an oddly shaped helmet, long masses of black hair that were clumped together like dreadlocks, and pink runes upon its back. The second type flew through the air. It had two giant wings, small talons, and a long tail that resembled a snake. Its skin was the same color and texture as the first type of monster. Instead of a face, the beast's head opened up into a large pink orb that shone brilliantly in the yellowish haze that blanketed the Twilight Realm.
Link then noticed the largest wild boar he had ever seen. And sitting on the wild boar's back was a devious-looking falcon. After taking all of this in, Link realized that both Navi and Majora's Mask were missing. He raced over to the spot where they had been hovering in the air and was surprised to see Navi—with only a slightly altered body—floating above a strange imp-like creature that Link had never seen before. The creature was extremely short with black and gray skin and it had similar markings to the ones that were on the other creatures skin. It was also wearing a strangely shaped helmet that appeared broken in two.
"Foolish girl," hissed the imp in a feminine voice. "With the Twilight you transformed my imprisoned soul into a living, breathing being. Now you will pay for stealing the power of the Twilight away from me and leaving me to rot in that accursed room!" The imp began to move towards Nylania, who was the only one unchanged by the Twilight. It was then that Link realized the mysterious imp was actually Majora reincarnated. Not knowing what else to do Link charged the evil being and head butted it. The extraordinarily light creature did not see this coming attack and was hit so hard that it flew through the air. It flew twenty feet before it suddenly disappeared.
Link raced after it and was surprised when he suddenly emerged from the Twilight and transformed back into his normal self. Lying ten feet in front of him was Majora's Mask; it was dormant once more. Before he could react to this, Navi fluttered out of the Twilight behind him. "Hurry Link! Now's our chance to escape!"
"Wait. I think we should take the mask with us. It's obvious Majora wants revenge on the Twilight Princess; we may be able to use it to defeat her, Ganondorf, and Astralose."
"Sure. That sounds like it might work," replied Navi as Link picked up the mask and ran towards the staircase that would lead them out of the huge chamber. They raced up the stairs, down the hallway, and then up the long flight of steps that would take them back up to ground level. Once they were on the surface once more, Link hurried to the nearest exit from the Lost Temple. Just as he was about to pass through it though, Navi stopped. "Why do we have to leave?" she asked. "Why can't we just hide here?"
"No Navi. You're not doing this now. Get a hold of yourself. We have to leave."
"What am I doing that's so wrong? I just think that it would be best if we hid here…"
"We don't have time for this," sighed Link. Not waiting another moment, he hurried up to Navi, grabbed her from behind (he remembered the last time he had left the Lost Temple with her and she had bit him, which is why he was extra careful to miss her tiny but razor-like teeth), and carried her out of the Temple. He waited until they were over three hundred feet from the ruined temple before he released her. "How do you feel now?" he asked.
"I don't know. I wish we could go back that's all, but I guess we should keep moving."
"Great. You've finally come to your senses. Now let's hurry to Hyrule. I don't think Ganondorf and Astralose are going to just stand around now that we've escaped." So he turned his back on the Lost Temple and hurried towards Hyrule, his hand still clutching Majora's Mask tightly.
