This place seems familiar. I lie in a bed and scan the room. There's a large table along the wall with a wash basin and colorful bottles. There's a mirror on the other wall and a door leading to a balcony. Sunlight pours into the room and irritates my eyes. The door opens abruptly and a man in purple and black robes enters. His face is stern, but his eyes are filled with delight.

"Lord Dominion, let me be the first to welcome you back to the living world. My name is Maultrich, Master Infuser of Light and Dark Magic. I live to serve you, master."

I stare at him listlessly. His name annoys me. Something about him dissatisfies me and suddenly I wish his demise. I desire to see him crushed flat, and barely twitching as the last sensation he ever feels is unrelenting pain. I check myself quickly. Something tells me these feelings are alien, and that I've never desired such awful deeds before.

"—years since you were last incarnated." Maultrich finished. "My Lord Demise, I —"

"That is not my name." I say.

"But, my Lord, our incantation—" Maultrich stammered.

"Failed, Maultrich. What was my name before your spell?"

"Then you're still Lady Majora, Princess of the Mask Tribe, and daughter of Captain Kumari, the King of Masks."

The name resonates with my very core. As I remember the name Majora, other memories surface with it; and, the harder I think, the more I remember. My memory has become an everlasting spring of water. And soon entirely new new memories rise to my consciousness. My knowledge reaches further than it could have ever fathomed as the human, Majora. I remember grandfather regaling me about the war Lord Demise waged against Lady Hylia, but now I can also see glimpses of it. As if I actually witnessed it. The new and vast knowledge frightens me and within a few seconds, I remember everything leading up to the Dark Rites ceremony.

"Maultrich," I say. "Summon my father at once."

"Princess, he is down in Ikana Kingdom relaying the news of the Ritual to our spies. He will be here in a few hours."

A foul surge rises in my breast. The room grows dark as if the sun were blotted out with ink. I speak, but another voice says the words. It says words I do not comprehend. Maultrich's eyes widen as he backs towards the door. His head falls obediently, and he sheepishly replies, "Yes, yes, my lady, I will retrieve him at once…personally, too. Please stay here." And he vanishes from the room in a flash.

I fall asleep before I can grasp what just happened.

Father wakes me during the night. My room is lighted with candles and his face seems grim. He looks at me with a mixture of emotions. I can see fear and love, and I can even sense something else that father doesn't realize his face expresses: hope.

"The guards say Maultrich intended to bring me to you. Speak my child, and whatever you desire shall be granted…if within my power."

"I just wanted to see your face, father. It's been longer than you think since we last spoke. Something happened during the Ritual. Maultrich believed his alteration of the Dark Rites would allow Lord Demise to possess my body for a short time, but he was wrong. I was held captive in a place where the Dark Lord imbued a piece of his heart into my body and soul. He penetrated his poison into my every fiber. We are now one: the Lord Dominion and I."

"Forgive me, my daughter. I have sinned and trusted my mages against my better judgment."

"You, father, will be forgiven in time. You were acting in the tribes best interest — our fight to survive. I've become more than acquainted with that fight in my long, or short, time away. Give me time, and my hatred for you will wane. But as for Maultrich, he—"

"Maultrich is dead," father says nonchalantly, and I can sense he's scrutinizing my face, studying my process of reacting to this news.

I'm bewildered. "What do you mean, father?"

"He was crushed by a boulder on his way to the kingdom. I am perplexed though. After all, Maultrich himself was the one who perfected our defenses. It would seem impossible for him to be ensnared in his own trap."

He notices my concerned face, but doesn't press me for questions. I have a feeling he knows what really happened. Father's always had a way with mind-reading.

"On another note, I think you'll be pleased to hear that my men finally caught Anu. She was living at the graveyard, and she was digging for something. She wishes to see you."

"Don't let her."

"Majora, she's your beloved friend. She'll understand—"

"Look at me, father: my hair and skin! I'm a monster. I'll never be able to leave Stone Tower now. I cannot marry Eoni and live in Clock Town!" I cry harder than I've ever done, and nearly suffocate from my anxious breathes. My soft weeping grows deeper in baritone. My room grows darker, and the shadows cast by the candles elongate, and dance about the walls hauntingly. Father stands amazed.

"Be calm, my daughter. Everything will be alright. You are very much mistaken, my dear. You shall leave this tower. You now possess magic beyond any of the mages' understanding. We now have the power of Lord Demise with the beauty and cunning of my daughter's spirit. You will leave Stone Tower, Majora. You will. And you will conquer Termina with your own hands."

() () ()

When I wake again, moonlight streams from the balcony. I slowly lift from my bed and walk. Surprisingly, my legs feel strong enough to walk for days without end. On the balcony, I survey the moon, and I realize how much more fantastic my vision is. I can see the craters in detail and the shadows of rolling dunes. And something moving—

"Majora, it's me." I hear.

I about-face and see her. She wears tattered clothes and has dirt smeared across her face with scratches on her arms. She bows over; causing her fire-red hair to conceal her face. I immediately fall to the ground and cower by the banister. I hide my face in my hands and petition her to look away.

"Majora, I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry I wasn't here." I peak though my fingers and see her slowly approaching, with not fear or caution in her steps. "I shouldn't have left; I should have protected you from Maultrich and your father." She runs and falls toward me, encircling me in her thin arms. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," she repeats over and over.

"Stop Anu, it's not your fault. When you didn't come back as planned, I thought it was the only way he'd let me go. I just—I felt so alone. For weeks, I emptied my mind of you for fear father would read my thoughts and discover our intentions. It was just myself, and I grew desperate."

"I didn't want to come back empty handed again," she interjects, crying all the while.

"Fear not, I do not blame you for anything. And don't blame yourself—that won't help anyone or undo what has happened. You look unwell, Anu. Did my father punish you harshly for you leaving the Tower?"

"No. Once he found out what had happened to you, he granted me amnesty for disobeying our laws. I look like this because living in a graveyard is no pleasantry."

"Did you find it?" I ask apprehensively.

"Yes," Anu says and sighs, "but the Stone Mask is meaningless now. We were so close, Majora. With one more day—just one more day and we could have escaped this place. And never been found again."

"Keep it close, Anu. You may still need it. There's hope for you unlike me. I'm a monster. I'm evil. With one malicious thought, I killed Maultrich."

"You're not evil, Majora. You may look different, but your eyes—there is still kindness in them. And your hair is so beautiful. It continually moves as if you walk through water. Your hair was always prettier than mine, and now I'll never catch up. Besides, the tribe is better off without Maultrich. He sucked more than a Like-like. Come on, everything will be okay with time." Anu grasps my hands and we rise off the floor, looking over Stone Tower and at the moon as it dips behind the distant clock tower. Having Anu back gives me strength and resilience.

"I've missed you so much, Anu. The world is so different now. I was just staring at the moon. I never really did that before, but it's truly lovely isn't it? The moon."

"You haven't been yet? With your new powers I'm sure you could go there anytime."

"Maybe we'll go someday, and we'll visit the moon children," I say.

"Moon children, who told you—"

"We'll go when Termina belongs to the tribe and my usefulness ends. We'll leave together this time."

"You're going to help them take over Termina? Majora, some of the tribesmen have already began to more than revere you as a princess, they intend to worship as their Dark Goddess. If you stay, they will never let you go."

"Dark Goddess or not, I'm still their princess and yours. And now I have the power to save my tribe. I will do this one thing for them and no more. Before, I thought our situation was hopeless and that's partly why I desired to leave. But things are different now. Father told me the Garos are planning to destroy Ikana and then the rest of Termina. I have to stop them to keep Termina peaceful. I will not stand idle and watch Termina decay as our tribe has."

"If that's how you feel, then let's do it. I'll do whatever I can to help. And I look forward to the day when we leave Stone Tower, not as deserters but heroes of Termina. And, until then, I will never leave you again."