The streets of Clock Town were adorned with all manner of garish banners, masks, flags and towers. Usually the eve of the Carnival of Time was a joyous event that wielded fireworks to herald the beginning of the festivities. Now it remained deserted aside from a few loyal guards and those who had given up on taking refuge. The horrific grimace of the moon hovered just above the rooftops as Sable made her way through East Clock Town. The various side alleys of carnival games and stalls for the markets were all but abandoned. Ignoring the desolate surroundings, she disappeared down the side alley that joined to the sewer just near the Mayor's office. Her footsteps echoed through the dank tunnels as she made her way home.
Shikashi was abruptly jolted back to reality at the sound of his door breaking open. He turned from his telescope to find Sable at the doorway. Her breathing ragged and her body drenched with sweat, she had obviously been running for some time now. With all the time the world, he descended from his telescope and went to the kitchen. He offered her a glass of water and said "I'm surprised to see you here."
Sable drained the glass quickly, wiping her mouth on the back of her hand "Why wouldn't I be? The world is going to end tonight, we need to take refuge so come on. Pack up what you need and we'll get going."
Shikashi let out a sigh "And go where?"
"I don't know, but not here, we're too close to where the moon will fall."
"My calculations predict that the impact of the moon's fall will obliterate all life in Termina." He saw the terror contort her face "You know my calculations are never wrong."
Words trembled from Sable's mouth "So… there really is nothing we can do… but, all stories have a hero to fight the evil threatening everyone."
"In the real world, a hero doesn't always nobly rise to the challenge and overcome adversary. Sadly for us, there is no hero in this tale."
By then Sable had broken down into tears, her body weakly fell to its knees as she succumbed to the crippling fear that had been building inside her all day. Hands then wrapped around her shoulders and led her to her feet once more. Shikashi smiled, calm as always, then said "Come on, let's look upon the sky once more before Termina is destroyed."
The moon's fiery wrath enveloped the sky with a haze. Even in the Woods of Mystery, the land was not immune to the encroaching death. Having returned to the swamp and finding neither Koume nor Kotake at their homes, Iris was trekking deeper into the nearby woods. From her clan this land was known as a refuge for lesser deities which gave it its unusual qualities. Those who wandered too long either died or mutated beyond recognition into a monster. In all her time spent wandering these woods, Iris had discovered that Dekus and Gomess were immune to this hex.
Even the local monsters who foraged and hunted were nowhere to be seen. The end of the world had suffocated every life of Termina with a miasma of fear. The torture before their release was only drawn out by the moon slowly moving towards the Clock Tower. Iris tried her best to ignore the frantic screams of the earth as it rocked and shifted erratically. Her dedication to the dark arcane kept her mind clear and guided her to her mistress.
Beyond the ancient glade that preserved the Forest Fox was a final clearing. It was the actual edge of the Woods of Mystery which held a strange monolith embedded among the cliff face. A pillar of jet black stone etched with angular patterns, half were coloured red and the other side was blue. All the lines and elaborate flourishes met in the centre to create a visage of Majora's Mask upon the surface of the black gemstone. It stood the height and width of a Goron, although its existence was known only to those who had a link with the Twilight Realm.
Standing before the monolith and bathing in the azure and crimson light stood a tall woman. She appeared to be of Gerudo descent with dark skin and elegantly pointed features. However that was where the similarities ended. Draped in black robes etched with patterns of arcane, her hair was split between two cascading manes of fire and ice.
Iris approached her and said "Mistress Twinrova, I've finally returned after mastering the gift of flight as well as the frost and fire manes."
"Very good, I could expect no less of my conduit." She never strayed far from the monolith, the strange relic was one of a kind. A stone enchanted so that lesser deities could take on their true forms outside the Twilight Realm without the aid of a conduit. Twinrova smiled at the little Deku, so proud of the growth she had displayed. "How long has it been since I took you are my apprentice?"
"Fourteen… maybe fifteen years? I lost count, you've always treated me so well."
"And to think your tribe expected me to accept you as a living sacrifice? I could not bear to waste such potential."
"Even so… why is it that Termina must end now?"
"Well, we don't know if it will, after all this is just a game between the Fierce Deity or the Oni and Majora or the Man-Eater… although, all those eons in isolation with each other… that never ending hatred for what Termina was in her era and the corruptive insanity of the Man-Eater… They're probably one and the same now." Twinrova sat down before the monolith "I hope the Oni can put her out of her misery… That poor woman, having to suffer within the abyss with that… with that abomination."
Iris knelt opposite her master and shyly asked "If we do all die, what will become of the lost souls, like me?"
"Some will return to dreaming, awaiting their emergence or merely returning to the lands the Golden Goddesses carved. Termina is merely a reverie for them. Others will be welcomed in the Twilight Realm and forget everything. They won't even remember existing."
"If I am swallowed by the Twilight Realm, please remember us. Remember all of us."
"I promise, child, I will never forget you, Sable, Veran, Onox, Ganondorf… I will never forget." Twinrova then held Iris close like a mother and child. They remained in their tiny oasis as Termina continued to fall to pieces around them.
Clouded mist cloaked the moon as it drew ever closer to the Clock Tower. Fragments of debris from the town wafted upwards like leaves in the wind. The night sky was tainted by an aura of unbelievable darkness hued with crimson. Everything beneath was fouled with the scourge of death as all Termina could do was wait for death to embrace them. At the observatory, Shikashi and Sable stood outside behind the iron fence. Their gaze never shifting from the sky as the stars began to dim.
Shikashi smiled weakly to himself "What a glorious final sight to look upon."
"It is beautiful in its own way." Sable wiped a tear from her face as she bravely held herself together. She would not spend her final moment bawling like a newborn. "W… why are we so helpless? It doesn't make sense, we go about our lives trying to prove our wisdom, courage and strength… but in the end… we truly are helpless"
Shikashi answered, his voice tranquil as he had made peace with his end, "I don't know, that's just the way we were made. Mortality is our greatest triumph and our most humiliating defeat"
In silence, they both returned their gaze to the sky and watching the moon's final descent into the Clock Tower. Sable felt her breathing calm as her mind finally accepted her death. The lurking despair had become one with her. She only hoped their deaths would be swift and painless so they could pass into the unconsciousness of eternal rest. The nightmare they were faced with would become nothing.
Slumped against the canyons Onox carefully navigated through the darkness. His footing was unsteadied by the quaking ground. Flecks of darkness tore from the air and wafted into the night sky, gravitating towards the moon. His mind had awoken recently to find an arrow in his shoulder and the boy in green had vanished. Disorientated and at a loss, he wandered through the valleys of death to find his way back to field. It was a futile endeavour given the final hour, but something in him forced him to keep walking. He would not turn his back on the apocalypse or hide in refuge like a coward.
Amidst the cries of Termina and chaotic screams of the moon's wrath, an eerie melody rang clearly through the night. The unmistakable sound of an ocarina resonated from the direction of the Clock Tower. The harmonious song cleaved through the madness and echoed in the ears of all living creatures. At that instant, Onox could feel something change in the air. Something great, something of unbelievably awesome power had been summoned by the song of that ocarina.
From the ether of the realms beyond Termina, they came to answer the Oath to Order. Long tall bodies that reached beyond the clouds materialised from the air with a ghostly whisper. Their massive footsteps did not harm or damage any part of the land as they gracefully bounded from the four regions of Termina. Their bodies solidified with dark red skin upon their approach to the Clock Tower. Their bristled pale hair shaded with yellows and green as their eyes were as black as the void of night. These creatures were illogical, with no true body and only a head and gangly limbs. Nevertheless, there was no mistaking as to who and what they were. They were the primal deities who guarded Termina, the Giants.
Although he could never hope to travel the same speed or even reach their destination. Onox forced himself into the form of a dodongo, curled up into a ball and raced after the Eastern Giant as fast as his reptilian body could manage.
Sitting upon a stone mushroom in the fields that divided Clock Town and the northern mountains, Veran allowed her senses to become immersed in the Oath to Order. There was only one type of mortal that could even play that song. No doubt in her mind, the blue eyed boy was the one responsible for this change. After what felt like an eternity, Termina could move beyond the three day cycle. The imprisonment enforced by Majora could finally be broken. The Giants strode effortlessly towards Clock Town to surround the tower. The moon was mere orb to them as they raised their arms in the air. Their hands met with its craggy and cold surface as they mustered all their might. Termina finally stopped shaking with terror as the moon remained suspended over Clock Town by the Giants.
All was not right though, Veran felt the violent pulse of magic from the Twilight Realm. She looked to her arms to see the shadows crawl over her skin. Her iridescent wings came briefly into sight before vanishing with an electrical jolt through her body. Picking herself from the ground she now saw that the moon's mouth was open and that it swallowed someone. A link formed between the tower and the moon twisted into a vortex of golden and red light. The Giants were shaking beneath the weight of their load as they persevered in protecting Termina.
Once again, Veran felt herself helpless beneath the aura of magic that exuded from the moon. Her entire body felt like it was slowly coming undone and returning to the Twilight Realm. Her fingers were beginning to fade away into the air as they turned black and broke away as weightless ash. This slow torture continued for hours as Veran helplessly watched her arms fade away. The pain finally stopped as the vortex of light cloaked the moon instead. The ashes materialised back into Veran's body to fully restore her. As she struggled to her feet, she witnessed the moon flying back into the night sky where it belonged.