Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Unpredictable Twilight
Nylania did not see Link's escape or the disappearance of Majora. Her eyes were still shut tight, slowly expanding the Twilight. This continued for a few more seconds before she was suddenly interrupted by a huge mass striking her in the side, knocking her over and breaking her concentration. With that, the Twilight Realm stopped growing. She looked up to see that it was an enormous, vicious-looking boar that had struck her. It was then that she noticed everyone's appearance had changed except for hers. Puzzled by this, she stood up and began to look for Majora. When she did not see him, she breathed a sigh of relief and exited the Twilight.
The boar rushed after her and immediately transformed into Ganondorf when it too had passed out of Nylania's self-induced dimension. A moment later, what had once been a silver falcon was now her father. Their evil army soon followed, immediately reverting to their normal, hideous selves. "Why in the name of Din would you do that?!" shouted Ganondorf.
"I had to stop Majora."
"What is this Majora nonsense? And what does that have to do with turning me into a pig?!"
"I didn't mean to change you or your soldiers. I meant to-."
"Who did you mean to change then?" demanded Astralose.
"Majora. I wanted to change him to weaken him. I changed him into a little girl. I thought- I thought if he was a young girl he wouldn't be able to hurt us."
"You haven't yet mastered your abilities then. I saw an imp-like girl when I was in the Twilight. That must have been what you changed the mask into. Your thoughts were impure, so you weren't successful in changing the mask into a little girl; instead, you changed it into a twisted demon. Now the question is, where did this demon go?"
"The boy!" shouted Ganondorf suddenly. "He has escaped!"
"Clearly," muttered Astralose.
"We must pursue him."
"Not quite yet. We need to talk with Nylania for a bit. You will catch the boy. You have a steed and he isn't that fast. We have time to discuss this for a little bit. So my daughter, when you were summoning the Twilight you attempted to focus your power towards altering Majora's shape?"
"Yes."
"You somewhat succeeded in that, but you were unable to limit this desire and unintentionally transformed everybody within the Twilight."
"I know. I think I can stop that from happening though in the future."
"No. Don't. We can use this. In fact, we will use this. I want you, whenever you summon the Twilight, to do exactly what you did there. It will be useful to imprison the Hylians in animal form. And I must admit that flying—and I mean truly flying, not floating as a spell can do for me—has always been a desire of mine, and as a falcon, I can achieve this. So do you understand what I want you to do Nylania?"
She nodded. "Good. You can go then." She left and Astralose turned towards his son. "I believe that the boy has taken Majora's Mask because the imp is now nowhere to be found. When you kill him, it would be wise for you to capture it back and bring it to me."
"Yes. I will. Can I leave now?" he asked, licking his lips eagerly.
"Yes. Go. And don't let him escape!" So Ganondorf turned away from his father and the pulsing black mass of Twilight that still stood in the middle of the room and ran after the Hero of Time.
Link and Navi were only two miles from the Lost Temple when the sound of a horse's galloping hooves came to their ears. Having picked up the Master Sword on their way out of the temple, Link was finally prepared to face Ganondorf. "Navi, you have to keep going. Get to Hyrule and warn them about the coming attack."
"What are you going to do Link?"
"It's time to put a stop to Ganondorf once and for all. Now hurry Navi! And take Majora's Mask." He handed the mask to her and she flew away just as Ganondorf came charging around the corner atop a fearsome bronco that was as black as the night. The charger came to a sudden stop when it saw Link, spewing milky foam from its frothy mouth. Ganondorf dismounted and took three steps forward. Neither he nor the Hero of Time had withdrawn their blades yet.
"So we're alone at last," grunted the King of Evil.
"Yes. Your end is finally here Ganondorf."
"How is that? All I see is a puny little boy."
Link withdrew the Master Sword. "This will be your bane."
Ganondorf laughed stridently. "That sword means nothing when its wielder does not possess the Triforce of Courage."
Puzzled, Link could not help but ask, "What do you mean? I have the Triforce of Courage."
"Ah, but that is the beauty of it. You actually don't. You did, but you no longer do. You forsook Hyrule for the land of Termina. Thus, the gods took it away from you. It has now been split asunder to be used by another in the future. You are worthless without it. And that sword you wield is worthless without it."
Link refused to believe what the King of Evil was saying, but there was a fraction of his mind that actually believed it; this was enough to cause just the tiniest bit of fear to creep into his heart, which only made him believe in Ganondorf's statement even more since this had never happened to him before. "No!" he shouted. "It isn't true. It can't be."
Ganondorf chuckled, seemingly enjoying himself. "It's quite humorous listening to the wavering of your voice. If you don't believe that it's true, there should be nothing to stop you from killing me. So let our duel begin!" He reached behind his back with both of his hands and pulled a six-foot long blade upward. It radiated with a purple glow, had a massive hilt, and appeared sharp enough to slice through something as thick as the Door of Time. He slung the blade over his shoulder in order to carry it in front of him and then he began to slowly approach the Hero of Time.
Link shook the doubt from his mind and charged the villainous Gerudo at full speed with the Master Sword held bravely before him. Before he could clash with the towering Gerudo, Ganondorf planted his foot into Link's chest and threw him backwards to the ground. "You are nothing without the Triforce of Courage boy. Nothing!" He lifted his sword and thrust it towards Link's abdomen.
He rolled out of the way, causing Ganondorf to miss and stick his sword two feet into the rocky ground. Link took this opportunity to swipe at Ganondorf with the Master Sword. His enemy was forced to release his sword and step back from the attack. While trying to bring his sword around for a second swing, Link was surprised when Ganondorf's green-skinned fist came up and struck him in the jaw. He flew back in pain, nearly impaling himself with the Master Sword when he hit the ground. It took a moment for him to shake off the feeling that he had a broken jaw, but he stood up nevertheless.
The King of Evil had already removed his blade from the ground and was bearing down on Link once again. He swung full force at Link's head. The Hero of Time lifted the Master Sword to block the attack but Ganondorf was so strong that his attack pushed Link's defense aside effortlessly, forcing him to duck out of the way to avoid having his head cloven in two. Link came back and thrust towards his foe's chest. Ganondorf sidestepped the attack easily and then came back at Link with a quick jab with his left palm.
Link fell backward into a tree and Ganondorf laughed. "It is over hero," he scorned. "You are now weak without your precious Triforce of Courage. You should have never challenged me. You should have remained in your hovel in the forest and enjoyed your pathetic excuse for a life." Without warning, he kicked Link in the face, bringing a gush of blood from his nose. Link swiped with his sword, but he was so weak at that point that even though it hit Ganondorf's leg, it could not even pierce his pants. With a guffaw, the Gerudo King kicked the Master Sword out of Link's hand. It landed on top of Majora's Mask with a thud. "Prepare to die foolish boy." Ganondorf raised his sword and got ready to strike the non-protesting Link with it.
Suddenly, Ganondorf felt jagged claws swipe at his hands. The shock of this caused him to drop his weapon. He saw a flurry of wings and next thing he knew the boy he wanted to kill more than anything else in the world was being lifted into the air by a giant owl. The owl lowered him down fifteen feet away just long enough for him to grab the Master Sword and Majora's Mask. A moment later, they were gone. "Curse you Link!" shrieked Ganondorf as the Hero of Time disappeared from sight. He turned back towards the Lost Temple and decided that it was time for the War for Hyrule to begin.
