Chapter Thirty-Eight: Vengeance is Sweet
Inside of the Twilight Realm, Navi the fairy could keep her true form; however, Link was not as fortunate. He instantly was transformed into a wolf with mottled fur and an almost rabid gleam in its eyes. "Where are we going Link?!" Navi shouted as the wolf raced across the remaining portion of Hyrule Field that lay between the wall of Twilight and the castle. Unable to speak in his current form, all the Hero of Time could do was look back at his fairy companion as he continued to gallop forward.
With the speed that only a quadruped animal can manage, they hurried across the drawbridge into the Hyrule Castle Town marketplace in only a couple of minutes. Within the large open square, they were unsurprised to see a number of tame animals, most lying around with an almost beleaguered look upon their furry, feathered, and scaly faces. Link ignored them though. He knew the only way to help them would be to continue on with his plan.
Navi, expecting her friend to continue towards the castle, was surprised when he turned down one of the town's seedy back alleys. She followed and watched as he squirmed into a sewer grate on his belly. She fluttered down after him into the sewer system, even darker than usual in the light-killing veil of the Twilight. They hurried through the flooded passageways, Link's four paws throwing droplets of green and brown water back onto Navi's glowing body. A few minutes later, they stopped at an especially flooded spot where the water rose up to the Hero of Time's barrel-shaped chest. Above the spot was a dilapidated trapdoor, nearly falling off its hinges.
Link stood on his hind legs and was able to reach the entryway because of the shortness of the channel they were in. He pushed it open and clambered into the light above, which seemed almost blinding after the darkness of the sewers. Once inside, Navi looked around and was surprised to find the room they were in lined with cells all around. "What are we doing in the dungeons Link? What are you trying to do?" When he looked at her with a blatantly exasperated look on his furry face, she responded. "Oh, I know you can't talk, all right?! Don't look at me like that. I'm allowed to think aloud, aren't I?" The Hero of Time turned around, stifling what was obviously a wolf's version of a chuckle.
He crept through a nearby archway into the dungeon's guard chamber. Inside, there was a slumbering tiger, laying across a desk with its four paws splayed across the tabletop's respective corners. Link snuck up to this desk, grabbed the knob of the one and only drawer in the desk's front half with his mouth, and pulled on the knob. The drawer opened and he was ecstatic to see a ring of keys lying inside. He pulled the rusted keys out, letting the key ring hang on one of his bottom fangs, and trotted back into the room with the cells.
He scanned each cell and then stopped at the one he was apparently looking for. Navi fluttered onto his shoulder and let out a gasp as she saw what lay inside. "It's the imp that Nylania accidentally created from Majora's Mask!" she gasped. The strange creature heard the voice and roused from its apparent slumber.
"Who are you? Who dares disturb my rest? Do you think because that foolish girl, the so-called Twilight Princess caught me off guard and trapped me here, that I am weak? That you can just interrupt my rest whenever you please? Speak you confounded mortals!" Then, seeing the ring of keys hanging from Link's mouth, Majora's tone softened. "Ooh, excuse me. Are you here to free me? I apologize for my behavior. I'm rather tense right now. You would be too if you'd been trapped in this confounded cell unjustly for six months. That wench Nylania sealed me inside this cell with her magic when my back was turned. What kind of person does that, you ask? An evil witch, that's who! Ooh, excuse me again. I am rambling. You are here to free me, right? Why else would you have those keys? Do you realize that those keys are not just ordinary keys? Not only do they unlock the cell, but they break the magic that is binding me and preventing me from using my powers."
Seeing that Link and Navi were not talking, Majora continued to speaking. "How rude of me not to even introduce myself. I am Midna, a poor little imp that got trapped in this Twilight while trying to sell some goods at the local marketplace." When the Hero of Time and his fairy still did not talk, the imp began to raise its voice. "Why won't you speak?! Speak you fools! Do you realize who you are dealing with?!" Majora paused, apparently realizing that he was blowing his ruse. "I mean, I'm just a poor little imp. Won't you help me? I'm sorry I lost my temper. I'm sure you would do the same in my situation. Did I mention I've been trapped here wrongly for six months?!"
Staring into Link's eyes, comprehension dawned on Majora's hideous visage. "Ah, you can't speak, can you? Well, that makes sense then. So how will I know if you're here to free me? I suppose it's time to resort to a little mind-reading. I'm sure you won't mind," Majora muttered with a malevolent smirk. The imp's eyes began to focus on its guests.
After only a few seconds, Majora began to cackle gleefully. "You are here to free me! Very good! But I see you want something in return. Yes, I can read your thoughts. You want me to kill Nylania, the so-called Twilight Princess, don't you? I suppose I could do that in return for my freedom. I mean, I'm just a poor little imp and I would never kill, but I think I can make an exception here. After all, she is no more than an evil witch. An evil witch that trapped me here. An evil witch who's now destroying the world using my power! Stealing all my glory with my own abilities!… Um, ignore that last part. Sometimes I can't even figure out what I'm talking about. So yes, I will immediately slay Nylania in return for my freedom. Now release me," Majora whispered, licking his lips impatiently.
Having gotten the promise he wanted from Majora, and knowing that his quest for revenge on Nylania would outweigh his desire for world domination at least temporarily, Link slipped one of the keys into the keyhole. When it didn't fit, he kept at it until at last the gate opened with a click. There was a cold gust of wind as the spell that had kept Majora's powers at bay rushed out of the chamber. The imp cracked its fingers gleefully and whispered, "Thank you kind stranger. Nylania will be dead shortly. She is mine." With a puff of smoke, he was gone.
"I see now what you were trying to do," said Navi. "Very smart plan. If he manages to kill Nylania, that will dispel the Twilight. Now Link, can we go and check on the Master Sword? I want to see if it's been pulled from the Pedestal of Time." The Hero of Time sighed in a resigned fashion, nodded, and jumped into the still-open trapdoor that they had come through minutes before.
He splashed into the sludgy water below and sprinted through the sewers until they were back in the alleyway behind the town's marketplace. Link entered the marketplace with Navi again, only this time they were dripping with brown muck and smelled like Moblin's underarms after a long battle. They ran across the marketplace, up a nearby staircase to the front of the Temple of Time, and then entered the Temple.
Link was not surprised, and Navi was disappointed, to see that the Master Sword remained firmly in its pedestal. "So nobody has claimed it. Where is the next bearer of the Triforce of Courage?"
The Hero of Time turned around to give her a face that would have screamed of I told you so, but he was interrupted by a massive shaking of the entire structure. Chunks of marble broke off of the ceiling and walls and cascaded to the ground below. Link raced away from the danger by running toward the Master Sword with Navi on his shoulder. Just as the rumbling stopped, the wall behind the Master Sword exploded, spewing dirt and debris in all directions. Link shielded his eyes with one of his front paws. When the dust settled, he uncovered his eyes and looked in the direction of the now crumbled wall. In the wall's place stood Ganon, even more massive than Link had remembered from his battle with him in the ruins of his castle.
"I thought somebody might come to claim the Master Sword eventually," Ganon said, his voice rumbling so deeply that it gave the entire city tremors. "Who could it be?" He studied Link for a second before his eyes focused on Navi. "This Twilight is so effective at transforming its inhabitants, I wouldn't even have recognized you without your fairy. I never thought we'd meet again boy. I thought the so-called Hero of Time ran away after he knocked me into that time portal thirty years ago, knowing that when I came back, I would do so with a vengeance.
"As soon as I came back from your time portal, I went to the Lost Temple and found Nylania. I convinced her that she was born to control the world, just like me. We are siblings after all. It did take a long time to get her to agree, but I can be very convincing. We came back and I had her unleash the Twilight. And six months later, the Twilight is continuing to expand. I set Nylania upon the top of my castle's tallest tower, and from there she won't be stopped until the Twilight has encompassed the entire world and it has become mine!
"I see you're unable to speak. And I'm sure you can tell that I am speaking quite ably. There's the advantage to being the one in charge of the Twilight Princess. I wasn't going to be a boar like the last time she set off the Twilight. I made sure she made me into something far more powerful, and with the ability to speak. Speech is important after all. I'm sure you can attest to that, you mute mutt." Ganon began to guffaw so loudly that Link couldn't even stand and he heard a building collapse nearby. "Maybe I should put you out of your misery, eh? I suppose I can do you that one small favor."
Staring at Ganon, Link had a strong case of déjà vu. He was exactly as he remembered him. He stood twenty feet tall, had two massive horns on his head, wielded a long black tail as a weapon, and had a body so rock-hard and immense that it made the mechanical monster Goht seem like a piece of sponge cake. For battle, Ganon wielded his favorite weapons: two trident-shaped swords that could pierce through solid rock if need be. Link knew there was nothing he could do to hurt Ganon in their current forms. He was far too big and strong for a wolf to defeat. His only hope was to survive long enough for Majora to kill Nylania and dispel the Twilight. Link's thoughts were interrupted as Ganon swung one of his gigantic swords downward towards the Hero of Time's back.
Link sidestepped the attack, but was thrown to the side when the weapon hit the ground and created a crater in the marble floor. Sprawled on his side, Link had to jump up in a hurry to avoid Ganon's other sword cleaving him in two. Another crater was quickly formed and Link was thrown into the nearby wall by the force of it. Ganon swung his horned tail around and Link was barely able to dodge it as it struck the wall behind him showering him with fragments from the wall's destruction.
He pulled himself out of the pile of debris just in time to avoid a horizontal swing from the sword in his enemy's left hand. After dodging a couple more of the King of Evil's blows, Link found himself getting fatigued. Just when he was thinking there was no way he could survive any longer, he heard a woman scream from somewhere outside.
"No! How can it be?! How did you escape?!" she whimpered. Flashes of multi-colored lights were followed by a thunderous bang. There was a piercing shriek and moments later one of the windows set into the upper reaches of the walls of the Temple of Time shattered as a robed body fell through it. The body hit the ground, creating a crater ten feet across to accompany the ones formed by Ganon's attacks. Link had just enough time to identify the body as Nylania's before a blinding light shot out from her body, instantly filling the entire room and beyond.
The light gradually dimmed and when it had subsided, the amber glow of the Twilight was replaced by the vibrant light of the sun. As Link pulled himself up onto his own two feet, he looked across Nylania's lifeless corpse at his enemy. The King of Evil, Ganondorf, now stood where Ganon had once been, and he suddenly seemed vulnerable.
