The Hyrulian Valhalla Saga
By Queenie Z

Obligatory Halloween Chapter

When Time first arrived in the afterlife, he had brought with him all of his keepsakes, including most of the masks he had acquired in Termina. He also brought with him memories of the holiday he never quite got to participate in during his stay in that alternate world; which was why every year, around the same time that Clock Town held its Carnival of Time, he would celebrate with them by wearing masks. Eventually, his predecessors adopted the practice, and by the time the others arrived it had become a well established tradition to create and wear masks, set off fireworks, and gorge themselves on all kinds of sweets and baked goods, just like the inhabitants of Hyrule's twin realm.

Usually, the Heroes decided on themes for all of their masks to have; this year, it was villains, and each Link had to create a mask of one of the major bad guys they had vanquished in life. Of course, the easiest thing to do for most of them would have been to make a mask of Ganon in one incarnation or another, so to make things more interesting they disqualified him as a choice. The result was a colorful, creepy assortment of evil overlords and ghastly creatures sitting around a fire, eating their customary treats while they waited for midnight to roll around.

Light moved his Agahnim mask upwards so he could stuff a giant wad of pumpkin bread (which Sky's Zelda had so graciously baked for them from an old Skyloftian recipe) in his mouth. Once he gulped it down, he looked over to Brown and Green. "So how come you guys ended up with the same mask, huh?"

"It's not the same mask," grumbled Brown indignantly through the pitch black, red-eyed mask, "I didn't know he was gonna pick Shadow Link, too!"

"I didn't have a choice!" whined Green, who wore a very similar mask, "We couldn't pick Ganon, and Mini was gonna pick Vaati! I thought Brown would pick Thunderbird or something!"

Duo munched happily on some candied almonds, his mask of Twinrova sitting in his lap. "I think you both did a great job on your masks regardless," he said.

"Not as good as Twilight," said Wind, whose Bellum mask was basically a giant eyeball with some more eyeballs attached to it with string, as he looked towards said Link. "That must have taken you weeks to do!"

Twilight chuckled, though his voice was muffled through the massive headpiece he'd carefully crafted to look like Zant's. "Thanks! It was a pain in the rear to make."

"Engie's is pretty good too," added Mini, whose mask was, indeed, of Vaati. "The removable hats were a nice touch."

Engie laughed, pulling one of two green top hats off, revealing the horns that topped his mask of Chancellor Cole. "I know! Pretty cool if I do say so myself."

Swallowing a chewy chocolate candy, Time, whose replica of Majora's Mask had been repositioned to the top of his head, grinned at the others. "I think I can safely say that everybody looks pretty creepy tonight," he said cheerfully.

"Except for Sky over there," teased Brown, pointing to his predecessor. "What are you, some kind of weird clown?"

Offended, Sky removed his mask and pouted. "I thought I told you about Ghirahim, Brown."

"You told me he was a demon lord, not a circus freak!"

Some of the newer Heroes - the ones who hadn't heard all of Sky's stories about Ghirahim - laughed at Brown's joke. After a moment's thought, however, Sky got an idea. He smiled wickedly, then put his mask back on.

"Then clearly I haven't told you the whole story," he said with a creepy edge to his voice. He stood. "Don't let appearances deceive you, Brown - he may have looked like a rejected circus act, yes, but behind that tacky makeup was a bloodthirsty sadist - a weapon in every sense of the word who would have wanted nothing more than to make you suffer."

The giggling Links fell silent as Sky theatrically crept around and knelt behind Brown, wiggling his fingers as he took his shoulders in his hands.

"You ought to thank your creator goddesses that he was defeated, because if he were here right now..." Sky chuckled darkly as he began to paraphrase his former nemesis. "...He would beat you within an inch of your life, then torture you until your ears bleed from the sound of your own screams!"

He lifted the mask just enough to lash his tongue out at Brown, who screeched and fell over with his arms flailing about. Sky broke character and laughed brightly, along with all of the other Heroes, and Brown picked himself up, brushing off his tunic and turning beet red under his mask.

"Okay, all right," he grumbled, "point taken."

Twilight reached over, offering Sky a high five for his performance. "Nice one!" he laughed.

"Thanks!" The elder Hero raised his hand to return the gesture, when a sudden pop and a bright light interrupted him. He lifted his mask again and looked up at the sky. "Wow, is it midnight already?"

"Guess so!" answered Light, taking a cookie from a bag and eating it. The others followed suit - removing their masks, they watched as fireworks colored the starry night skies of their heavenly realm.