Chapter Thirty-Two: A Plan Gone Awry

On his way to the castle, Link picked up the mystical sword of evil's bane, but he did not dare sheathe it for fear of an unforeseen ambush by his enemies. He rushed over the drawbridge into Hyrule Castle Town and passed by a multitude of women and children huddling in fear. Not long after, Link found himself inside of the unguarded castle. He raced up the marble staircase that led up to the castle's upper floors. He eventually found the hallway that he knew the Princess's quarters were down. His heart skipped a beat when he saw that her door had been blasted off of its hinges by some powerful magical force. Even the stone walls that surrounded the door frame were blackened and cracked.

He hurried into the room where his worst fears were confirmed. The Princess was sitting in an ornate chair, eyes open and staring blankly. Her chin was resting on her unmoving chest. She was dead. The Hero of Time trudged over to his friend's side and gently grabbed her cold, lifeless hands. Holding back tears, he quietly shut her eyes. After picking up her light body, he carried her over to her bed. He lovingly laid her down upon it and folded her arms across her chest. "Rest in peace Zelda," he mumbled emotionally.

At that point, Link's mind could not focus on what Zelda's death would mean for their plan. The thought did not even have a chance of entering his mind. Instead, all he could focus on was his overwhelming desire to kill Ganondorf, to avenge his friend's death. It was all that he could concentrate about. Standing up from where he had been kneeling by his deceased companion's side, Link said aloud, "I failed in protecting you in life Zelda. I have failed you. I must now make up for this failure. I must slay Ganondorf, without the Triforce of Courage if that is the way the Gods would have it." The Hero of Time jogged out of the Princess's bedroom. All that was left was to find the King of Evil in the empty castle and defeat him.

Navi, who had been so shocked by the death of the Princess that she could not even talk, finally spoke after Link had been wandering the halls of the castle for ten minutes, trying unsuccessfully to find either Ganondorf or his wicked father. "Wait Link," she squeaked. "What about the King's study? You haven't checked their yet."

"You're right Navi. Let's look." Link turned around, ran back up the stairway that he had just descended, and found the door to the King's personal study. He opened the door stealthily and was not surprised to see that the King was no longer in the room. He was however surprised to see that Majora's Mask was no longer sitting on the table. "Where is the mask?" he gasped.

"What, this old thing?" came a voice from within a nearby closet. Out of the closet stepped Astralose. His blue cloak billowed behind him as if in the presence of a hurricane-force wind. However, his long, white hair hung unmoving over his shoulders and down his back. In his withered but strong hands was Majora's Mask. "It was my intention to destroy this mask when I found it. After all, it wouldn't be prudent to allow it to exist when it is such a potent and vengeful force in the Twilight. I suppose that's why you took it in the first place. Why else would you have need for such a thing? You planned on releasing this mask into the Twilight and allowing it to do your dirty work in a manner of speaking. It would have worked too, had you not been idiotic enough to leave it the company of that old fool the King."

"What have you done with him?" hissed Link.

"I believe my son is having a little fun with him at the top of the central tower here in the castle."

"Your son has already killed the Princess. He will pay for this."

Astralose chuckled coldly. "I must say that I love how you automatically assume that it was Ganondorf that killed your beloved Zelda. Do you not realize what I am capable of?"

"Are you saying-?"

"Yes," interrupted the old wizard. "I killed her."

"Why?"

"No real reason, other than she happened to be in the room when I was in a murderous sort of mood," he said with a malicious smile dominating his countenance.

"Then it is you who will pay for her death."

Astralose guffawed again, this time even longer and harder. "Do you not realize who I am? What I am? You may see only an old man before you, but I am an old man with power. A power that you haven't even seen remotely tapped yet. You have no idea what I can do. I've spared you up to this point hero, but now your end is here. I will unleash my true abilities upon you, abilities that I spent my entire youth honing. But first, I need to do something with this mask. I do intend to destroy it, but it takes time and a great deal of magic to destroy something with such a mystical and powerful nature, time that I do not yet have. And it won't do me any good to hold it during our battle. My son can keep it until after I've killed you; then I will destroy the mask."

He lifted his hands—the mask still clutched within them—over his head. He released the ancient relic, but it did not fall; it hovered in the air inches above his still outstretched hands. A moment later, the mask was gone in a ball of smoke and light. "Now that that is in my son's possession, I can turn to a task that I shall savor greatly, as I've been longing for this opportunity for months now: I shall slay the famed Hero of Time."

Link did not reply; instead, he unsheathed the trusty Master Sword and raised his Hero's Shield before him. He was ready for whatever Astralose might throw at him, and he was ready to avenge the death of one of his dearest friends. Without any further talk, he charged the evil mage Astralose with the blade of evil's bane glimmering hungrily.