Wang: Double digits! Yahoo!
Static: As usual, we don't own Legend of Zelda.
Chapter 10: A Not So Happy Ending
They found themselves on a foggy plain. All was silent, all was still. Then, over the horizon to the south something tall and monstrous came close. It was disfigured, with long loping arms and legs. The hands and feet seemed three sizes too large. The head was the body, with the limbs connected to it. Red skin stretched tightly in some places, but sagged heavily around the black beady eyes. Green hair the color of old tree leaves hung in limp strands.
"And what is that?" Nadai looked up and up.
The thing had to be taller than Death Mountain, but only as wide as a Clock Town block.
It opened its mouth and spoke in a strange language to them. They covered their ears, wincing at the sound.
Link uncovered his ears. "So, just what is that thing?"
"It's speaking a long forgotten language." Tatl whispered. "The Great Fairy told us that the giants and the moon talked to each other a long time ago using this language."
"So that's one of the giants?"
"I think so."
The giant spoke again, and the kids covered their ears.
"It says… thank you?" Tatl said softly. She flew a little closer, but still within arm's reach of Nadai.
"You can understand it?" Nadai asked.
"Kinda sorta."
The giant spoke again and they covered their ears.
"He says thank you." Tatl said more convicted. "He says thank you for beating Odolwa."
"Was that the monster we beat in the temple?" Link asked.
The giant spoke again, and spoke for a very long time. The kids waited with hands on ears. As the giant spoke longer and longer, the pain became slowly more and more unbearable. Just as they thought that they couldn't stand it any longer the giant finished speaking. The fairy hung in the air, unmoving. When she did speak, she spoke slowly and uncertainly.
"Odolwa was one of Majora's…generals? I guess you could call him that. He was one of four men that swore allegiance to Majora before he was a mask. When Majora was turned into a mask his generals took it and ran away, protecting him as long as possible. That's how Majora's Mask still exists to this day and wasn't destroyed then. I think." The fairy added. "Majora turned his four closest followers into masks, ones that only he could summon and use. Skull Kid went to each of the four temples and placed the mask inside to subjugate the giants."
"That mask is that powerful?" Link asked.
"Very." Tatl nodded. "When the giants aren't called, they are here, in this plain of…spirits? I think that's the right word, or at least the word that closely translatable to it. While here, they aren't on our plain of existence, and therefor weaker."
"So while the mask persists, at these temples, the giants are powerless to help." Nadai summarized. "And if we go to each temple, and fight off whatever Majora had sent at the giants, they can be roused?
"Wait, so Skull Kid went to each temple, and you were there?" Nadai pieced two and two together. "Not unless he can teleport he couldn't have traveled that fast. He had to do it before hand."
Tatl frowned. "He did visit the temples within the past few weeks. But he didn't do anything that I saw when it came to summoning masks."
"It might have been invisible to you." Nadai reasoned. "Unless he did it when both you and Tael were sleeping."
"Possible…"
"But how can they help if they are here on this plain?" Link asked.
The giant spoke again, and they covered their ears. Then it began to hum, intoning different notes. It repeated the pattern a few times.
When it was done vocalizing, Tatl spoke again. "It says to play this song, it was used a long time ago in celebration of the giants. With all four of them there, they can hold up the moon from falling onto us."
Link and Nadai listened through their ears as the giant hummed at them again.
Link nodded. "I got it."
"Me too."
Then they were gone.
They opened their eyes back in the Inner Sanctum. They were on the ground, on their backs. They slowly got up, their bodies sore.
"That was interesting." Link muttered. He brushed some dust off his tunic.
"But we know what we have to do now." Nadai said. "Four temples, four giants to save. Then we can go after Majora."
"Hey."
Link closed his eyes and opened them again. He turned to Tatl. "Yeah?"
"Uh, thank you."
"For?"
"For taking me." She said. "For letting me help you guys."
"Uh, you're welcome."
"And I promise to help you guys, like, really help you guys out in the future."
"That'll be nice." Nadai said. "Like, you know we are strong and all, but any and all help is good."
Tatl nodded. "Of course." She flitted about, head cocked to the side. "You hear that?"
They listened. "I don't hear a thing."
"Link, turn into a Deku, they have slightly better hearing."
Link sighed, but complied. After his body changed he could feel it. There was a steady knocking that reverberated up through his feet. He stepped further away from it, then closer to it. "It's coming from behind that door."
Nadai went to it first. "It must be the princess." She opened the door up.
Inside the small closet, tied up and gagged, was the princess. She was hitting the ground with her feet, which was muffled in the tiny room. She squealed twice; once for Nadai as she looked down at her, then another time at Link as he peered around Nadai.
The former Gerudo cut the bonds on the princess, and undid the gag.
"You're alive!" The princess ran into Link's arms, who fell over unprepared for a full body tackle-hug. "I can't believe you survived!"
"Uh, you got me confused with someone else." Link muttered. "I'm not whoever you think I am."
The princess looked up from his chest, suddenly very still and eyes wide. "Love?" She said softly. "Aren't you my love?"
Link shook his head as well as he could. "Sorry, not him."
The princess got up instantly, brushing off the grass dress she wore. Link got his feet.
"The name's Link." He said. He gestured to Nadai. "And that's Nadai. We came here to rescue you."
"A Terminian and a Deku working together for me?"
"It's a bit more complicated than that." Nadai said. "But something like that."
The princess looked between the two of them again. "That's very…odd."
"Not even the half of it." Link said. "Listen, your dad thinks that the monkeys are responsible for your disappearance. If we don't get you back to your dad soon, he'll start a war with them."
The princess looked up at the holes made from Odolwa. "What day is it? What time is it?"
Tatl flew up high and through one of the larger holes. She came back down a second later. "It's definitely predawn of the last day." She told them.
"Last day?"
Nadai sighed. "'Nother long story." She said. "We'll get you back to your father before dawn."
They ran out, leaving the princess to follow them. "But how? It's a day's march through the swamp to get to the palace!"
Link smiled. "We've got a way."
They stopped at the entrance. Already the sun was trying to crest over the horizon. However, it hadn't yet shown itself. The two heroes took out their instruments.
"We've got a few minutes to do this in." Nadai said hurriedly. "Link, carry her?"
He nodded. They played the song, and large wings sprouted out from their backs. The princess reeled back in shock, but didn't faint. Without preamble, Link grabbed hold of the princess's arms and flew up.
She screamed, but Link ignored it. If they were to save that monkey's life, they had to hurry. In the distance they could see a patch of the swamp that was clear of trees. That had to be the palace. And they flew as quickly as they could.
The cold air stung their faces, and Nadai's eyes were watering from the speed. If Link was a Hylian, his arms would have been pulled from his sockets. However, Deku Scrubs didn't have sockets. But his arms still felt as if they were on fire from the exertion.
The palace came closer and closer. Below them the river that lazily wound its way through the trees below passed. As they neared, they saw the dekus scurrying about like ants. Someone had started a large fire. They began their descent, racing faster and faster towards the ground. Someone saw them, and they began to shout in terror. They readied weapons, half raised in confusion. The Big-Boss stared up at them defiantly.
Link pulled up, his arms straining with the princess's momentum tearing on his arms. He succeeded in letting her down rather gently, though he tumbled to the ground after her as the wings disappeared. Nadai pulled up gracefully in comparison, and landed on her feet. Instantly she was surrounded by guards. Link was warily circled by several other dekus. The princess was immediately swept up by her father.
"Lower your weapons!" Their chief ordered. "Lower your weapons!"
The guards complied slowly, looking at each other and their chief.
"But Big-Boss," one of the dekus pushed through the crowd to him. "She is an outsider."
"He brought back my daughter!" The Big-Boss roared at him. "And she is with him! Outsider or not, she saved my daughter from those evil monkeys and brought her home."
"But the laws –"
"I am Big-Boss!" The deku chief said. "Do you honestly think the laws apply to me? She is good! So is the scrub beside her."
"Actually." Nadai took the moment to walk closer, holding up her hand. "It wasn't the monkeys that had your daughter captive."
The dekus all looked at her as if she was mad. "Not the monkeys?" The Big-Boss repeated. "I find that hard to believe."
"It's true." Nadai stepped closer. "The monkeys had nothing to do with your daughter's captivity. You can call off that war of yours."
The Big-Boss narrowed his eyes, and let go of his daughter's hand. He stepped forward, until he and Nadai were close enough to touch. "You want me to believe you?"
"Yes."
The Big-Boss let out a wide grin. "War wasn't looking that good anyway." He stepped back and turned to the dekus around him. "We march to Clock Town tonight! But first, a feast to celebrate the return of my daughter!"
One of the attendants surrounding the king laughed. "Bring out the monkey!"
From around the corner, to the east, came the rising light. But as the dekus surged that way Link and Nadai could tell that it no longer came from the sun, but from the large fire. The dekus circled up around the fire, all of them slowly circling and chanting. Bit by bit they got louder, leaving the princess, Big-Boss, and the heroes standing by the fire.
A pair of dekus came through the crowd. The bore between them the monkey stuck through the middle with a spit. It ran through his mouth and out his rear. Blood oozed out of his wounds, matting the white fur. He still moved slowly, but was helpless to act.
Link, Nadai, and Tatl watched horrified as the spit was hung above the fire, and the screaming began.
Nadai gripped her weapons. "Monsters." She spit on the ground.
Link nodded. "We may still have time, but I'd rather go back and move on."
Tatl woozily sat down on Nadai's shoulder. "Me too."
Link brought out his saxophone. "Some endings just aren't meant to be happy."
Nadai stared at the burning monkey, and the screams and the smell of charred flesh. "We're not able to save him then." She said softly. "Even if we do everything again faster, he would still die."
"Why do things gotta turn out like that?" Tatl whispered.
"Not all endings are happy." Link repeated himself. "Let's go back."
The two children played softly amid the ruckus. The three of them disappeared into the past. No one noticed their disappearance until much later, and no one cared that much. Their princess had returned and they were feasting and they would attend the festival they had longed to attend for years.
Shadow: We all know Deku Scrubs were nasty little blighters in Hyrule. I guess we made them slightly less evil here?
Time Stop: nods Yes we did.
Shadow: But why did we have them eat a monkey?
Time Stop: Your idea.
Shadow: ...
Time Stop: Don't forget to review!