A Note from the Author: Finally, right? Once again, I apologize for the long wait time. The next story, Cold Heart, will in no way be as long as the last two parts in this story, I assure you. That, in turn, should assure shorter waiting periods.

Anyway, there's a lot to absorb in this final part to the opener of Shadow Apocalypse. There are really good parts, and really weak parts. I'll leave it up to you as a reader to decide which is which. Inspiration for segments in this chapter came from Tomb Raider: Underworld, Assassin's Creed II, Star Fox Adventures, Ponyo, and the 2009 movie Sherlock Holmes.

Enjoy Part III, please don't be mad it took so long, and be sure to write a review when you are finished! I'd really appreciate it!

Part III ~ The Bomb

I would be lying if I said there was any remote sign of happiness in the Deku Marshlands. The dark bayou was of the darkest shades of blue and green, and a light rain fell through tall, crooked trees as if they were non-existent. The trees, bent in all sorts of shapes, were crippled sentinels guarding the waterways, staring with hollowed eyes at the small canoe as oar after oar sent us closer to the kingdom of the Deku. The gap in the trees caused by the river revealed black, swirling clouds that seemed more than just water—they were all different elements, from smoke to water to something I couldn't quite describe. Through their ominous veil, I could see the moon's haunting glow, eclipsed only by a rather large mountain to my right.

"That's Woodfall," Koume explained quietly. "The Black Cauldron of the South, it's called. Nobody's ever been at the summit in years, ever since the Deku abandoned their temple at the top. Some say it is impossible to even pass through the clouds. The swamp at Woodfall hasn't seen the light of day for a long time, thanks to those clouds."

My eye twitched as I continued to take in the peculiar fuchsia glow of the moon. It was both a pale yellow and a sunset-like purple at the same time, yet never a mixture of the two; perhaps its appearance, too, was cursed by the Skull Kid. It was an unpleasant reminder that I was running out of time.

Slowly but steadily, the canoe came to a soft, rippling stop along a silent dock on the shore opposite of Mt. Woodfall. Not too far from the landing was a cylindrical hut, black and empty. Thunder rolled in the sky, predicting the oncoming of harder rain. A crooked, tacked up wooden sign to the hut's side read, "TERMANIAN EMBASSY: ALL VISITORS TO THE DEKU KINGDOM MUST CHECK IN BEFORE ENTERING."

I looked at the witch tying the boat to the dock questioningly. "It's no use trying to check in," she grumbled lowly.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"See for yourself," she answered darkly. "But you might not like what you find."

I nodded, obligingly stepping onto the soft ground, and peeked nervously through the open door and into the embassy. Through the limited light of the moon I could see many dusty pieces of furniture, untouched for the longest time, it seemed, based on the large amounts of spider webs glinting in the light. The embassy seemed to be abandoned; I saw no sign of a living soul in any corner of the office. As my eyes turned to a dark alcove shielded from the light, however, I felt my hair stand on end. Something was there, I could feel it. Something that did not want to be found.

Creeping towards the darkness, I began to hear scratching sounds of shuffling, and a sharp intake of air that was gargled and unnatural. As I stepped into the shadows and my eyes adjusted further, I could make out something or somebody at the far end of what I now realized to be a hallway. Very faintly, I could hear a multitude of clicks, whispers, and squirms, as if the room beyond was, in the darkness, infested with swarms of cockroaches or something just as repulsive. Pushing a small bureau out of the way to let a sliver of light in, I caught a quick glimpse of some sort of thing. There was the face of a man, startled by the sudden light, and I could see every inch of fear in his eyes as they connected for the briefest of moments with mine. Then the head fell back, revealing the beady, glimmering red eyes of a spider's head, blinking at me in a mixture of confusion and terror. Then I saw the most disturbing body I ever could have imagined and nearly threw up with disgust. I scrambled out of the Embassy as fast as I could and back into the rainy shade of the swamp.

"What was that?" I panted, shuddering and nervously glancing back. Whatever I had seen, it was gone.

"There are some things that even magic cannot cure," Koume answered softly. There was a hint of sorrow in her voice.

Stepping back out onto the dock, I was able to get a good look at Mt. Woodfall, whose base was just barely visible through an entanglement of vines and fungi. "You know, I remember seeing a mountain like that," I noted, peering up towards the dark, swirling clouds. "A volcano, back home. It was formidable and dangerous, but even in its darkest hour a whole civilization survived at the top. Perhaps Woodfall is no different."

"I assure you, child, nothing can live atop Woodfall. Not even the gods dare to touch it. But Mt. Woodfall isn't your destination, I hope?"

I shook my head. "From everything I've heard and seen, I wouldn't dare set foot on it. I would like to find the Deku Palace, if you would be so kind as to show me where it is."

Koume rose an arm slowly and pointed a bony, crooked finger downstream. Through the mist, I could just barely make out the foreboding shadows of a wall rising until it was just above the treetops. "The Deku Palace lurks beyond those walls. I do not understand how you plan on entering when you are not a Deku Scrub, but that is no business of mine."

"I'm sure I'll manage," I smiled.

"Good luck with that," Koume sighed, wobbling back towards her canoe. "The Deku Kingdom is no place for outsiders—be careful for as long as you exist on the other side of that gatehouse. I thank you for helping me in the forest; but my assistance ends here. If you have further need of me," she grunted as she pulled her second leg over the sides of the boat, "don't hesitate to visit the Tour Kiosk at any time."

As I continued to look on towards the kingdom of the Deku, thunder boomed loudly somewhere nearby. "That's strange," I remarked, "there wasn't even any lightning."

"That wasn't thunder," the witch warned. "That was an air raid."

-

About halfway along the river bend, when I was sure Koume was out of sight, I decided it was time. Hesitantly, I lifted the Deku Mask to my face. This was the only way I'd get into the palace; but would I be able to change back? I'd never done this before. It was...scary, in the least. If I became stuck as a Deku again, I doubted I'd be able to convince the Happy Mask Salesman to save me without that mask he so wanted.

I cannot recall how many minutes it took before I could muscle up the courage to slide the mask over my face. It was surprisingly comfortable, and fit perfectly with every shape and bump on my head. For a moment, I couldn't see a thing. Then, I felt a dull pain as my internal organs all seemed to squeeze together, pushing themselves into a tighter and tighter space, and taking the rest of my body with them. I touched the skin on my arm, and to my amazement found it harder than usual; within seconds, pushing it again returned a sensation not unlike pressing a finger against a table surface. I felt my lips being sucked gently into the funnel on the mask, and when I tested them I found that no matter how hard I tried I could not close them. Feeling around with my shrinking tongue, I discovered my teeth had simply vanished. Probably strangest of all was when I felt my hair become suddenly very sensitive to my environment, almost as much as my fingers, which in turn then became less in tune to the world around me. My hair folicles sprouted tiny branches, and a sort of webbing locked them all into place—based on what I had seen before, I knew my hair had become a pile of leaves. I hardly noticed when my shirt vanished and my chest became bare, but feeling it I could tell it too was quickly turning into wood. My toes all seemed to fuse together, melding into the shape of the inside of my boots so that they were more comfortable. At last, at the very end of what surely was really only half a minute (though it felt so much longer), I saw a sudden bright flash of red in front of my eyes, which gradually faded into a dim orange light and I could see the world around me once again. I hadn't realized how much of a different glowing eyes made until then—I could see much better in the darkness, and nearly jumped at all the figures I could now make out in the forest. The black, blurry wall of plants along the river was now a clear-cut forest, albeit with mist still clinging to its low branches.

After my sight returned and the change seemed to end, I took a moment to get my bearings. In a quick moment, my weight, size, and sense of balance had all shifted, and it was preposterous to believe I could just scurry about without getting control again.

Once that was over, though, a quick peek in the water proved to me that I was completely identical to how I had looked upon entering Termina—a Deku Scrub, albeit with arms, shorts, boots, and a hat. It was time to enter my people's kingdom.

-

I stood awkwardly before the outer walls of the mighty Deku Palace, which I couldn't even catch a glimpse of above the tall, wooden walls. In the distance, I could hear the thumps of an army marching to battle. Termina was an unbelievably depressing place, I realized. Warped and demented, but to such a realistic degree, it was like some place out of a tragic novel. A dark, rainy swamp, rumbling with the sounds of war, with only three days to exist before an apocalypse that nobody expected... Standing with the waters of the humid swamp behind me, I found myself wondering if the Happy Mask Salesman was right about Termina. Maybe it shouldn't exist.

Now wasn't the time for remorse. I took a deep breath through my single snout, puffed my tiny chest out, and marched towards the gatehouse. I myself felt almost like a soldier, albeit for the opposing side, and couldn't help but remember how it felt approaching the Gerudo Fortress, knowing that I was entering enemy lines. Hopefully, though, this time I wouldn't be considered an enemy.

"Halt!" ordered a Deku Scrub, barely an inch taller than myself, as I got closer to the portcullis. I did as I was told. The Deku marched up and began scrutinizing my every detail. I hoped he couldn't see me trembling. "That's strange," he muttered. "You don't look like most Deku." He glared at me with suspicion. "You aren't from around here, are you?"

"N-No," I stuttered. "I'm from outside the country."

"A foreigner? From Koholint, perhaps? Do they even have Dekus there?"

No clue. "Y-Yes, loads!"

The Deku blinked, surprised at his mistake. It was bothersome that I could tell his emotion not by facial expressions, but by the subtle motion of his leaves. If anything, this adventure was educating me a lot about how Deku society works. "Hmm... State your business, outsider," the guard demanded.

I thought fast. "W-Well, I am visiting the country. I felt it necessary to pay the mighty king a visit while I'm here. It wouldn't be respectful if I didn't."

"You picked a bad time to visit," the Deku grumbled. "But I suppose it can't be helped. If you wish to see his majesty, just follow the road you are on to the Ceremonial Quarter." Before I could move two steps, he quickly added, "But don't even think of going anywhere else! Non-citizens are not permitted to wander as they please!"

"Don't worry," I reassured him, "I won't wander."

-

The Deku Palace was more of a miniature city than a palace. It didn't have the aspects a city normally would, like shops and houses, but a quick glance at a map on a sign told me that the area inside the outer walls was split into multiple buildings, grouped into things called "quarters." There was a Dining Quarter, a Studies Quarter, an Athletics Quarter, a Research Quarter... But just as the guard said, I just had to keep going forward to reach the Ceremonial Quarter.

There was some odd, detached charm to the dreary place. In the fading darkness, the onset of grey (Day Two, here we come), and the light rain, I couldn't help but smile (I began to figure out that though mentally I moved my lip muscles, the smile was shown in a shift of the leaves on my head) at the sight of Deku scholars walking in groups from one quarter to another, oblivious to the weather and much more interested in their business. In fact, the rain actually felt soothing, as if I were somehow revitalized by it.

The haunting atmosphere was reinforced by the giant moon, which hung on the horizon waiting for the sun to rise. Its glow broke through the grey clouds, leaving the image of a bright yellow semicircle cutting through the sky. Soon I'd only have 48 hours left to find the giant. I'd have to hurry.

I noticed a pair of guards standing near a bench, eying me suspiciously. One began to walk forward. Not wanting a confrontation with any guards this morning, I opted to quickly hustle away. As I did, I wondered why the guard had even moved at all. Come to think of it, a lot of the guards looked at me in a peculiar way, until I was sure I didn't want to be in their presence at all. This was difficult to do, though, because there was a soldier at every corner. The palace was, after all, in a war zone.

The Ceremonial Quarter was pretty much a ring of stylish-looking buildings surrounding a depression in the ground, the center of which was occupied by a small pond. My little boots sounded strange tapping against the cobblestone pathway following the buildings around the quarter, as I searched for whatever building the king was supposed to be in. Minus the guards, I couldn't help but remark that the kingdom's status as being in wartime was hardly evident inside the outer walls. Everywhere I went, I passed groups of young adult Deku socializing and laughing as they went from one of the buildings and out of the quarter. Naturally, Deku were everywhere—I had never seen so many in one place in my life! That was a stroke of luck, though, because as it turned out I was unable to figure out where the king was. In the end, I had to flag one of the adults down (which wasn't overly hard, considering the strange looks I was getting wherever I went) and ask where to go. She was able to direct me to a very grim-sounding building called the Sacrificial Hall. It sat right against the tower I saw from outside the walls.

I hurried to the hall as fast as I could go without running, but with a sudden lurch I slipped on a puddle and fell face-first onto the cobblestone. It didn't hurt—I wasn't heavy, and my body surface was hard and durable—but I laid there on the pavement for a long moment anyway. I heard many footsteps, walking around me as if I didn't matter. The Deku were so consumed by their business, they had no eyes for sympathy.

Slowly, I got to my feet and wiped the pieces of grass and dirt off my chest. Peeking back at the puddle, I saw my reflection. I couldn't help but stare at it before continuing. I wasn't the least bit familiar; the body my mind controlled was not the same body I controlled. If this was how I was to travel—in a body that wasn't my own—how convincing would I have to be? All I knew of Deku culture was what I had learned in the Kokiri Forest... Suddenly, memories that hadn't existed before spiraled into my mind. Memories of the future. The Business Scrub in Clock Town had taught me a few things, hadn't he? More than a few things. Maybe I knew what it took to be a Deku after all. I had surprised myself; in playing the Song of Time, I had forgotten virtually all of what had happened in the days I lost.

-

The moment I crossed through the doors of the Sacrificial Hall, the world suddenly became overpopulated with shouts, angry screams, cussing, big words, heavy accents, and lots and lots of old Deku people in an incredibly dense crowd. It was a big change from the rather sophisticated appearance of the Dekus outside. These Deku were out of control, if they weren't just senile.

High above the crowd was a balcony looking out onto the room. Standing on it was the biggest Deku I had ever laid eyes upon, with a Hylian-sized Deku to his side. Though the shorter Deku was relatively calm, the bigger one was worse than the crowd, screaming unintelligible words in rage, cheered on by the crowd whether they could understand or not. As if any more emphasis could be put on it, let me add that Deku, as I found out now being able to speak and understand their language, normally speak twice as fast as Hylians and Termanians do, and had such a grammar that these fiery outbursts made no sense until they ended.

I pushed my way through the crowd, trying my best to get a closer look at the imposing figure atop the balcony. He spoke with the heaviest of any Deku accent, and his incredible leaf-mustache stretched out on either side of his snout and curled flamboyantly. Above the Deku's head was an enormous bulb wrapped in vines and leaves. In the hands of the Deku was a long scepter, a Deku Nut nestled on top as an ornament. If there was ever a Deku King, this man was surely him. The only question was how I was supposed to speak with him. From all the noise, I wouldn't even be heard if I screamed.

It wasn't too hard to gather at least some of what I needed to learn, though. The situation was obviously very grave indeed for the monkey. Every scream, every shout, every swear, was directed at the monkey, though the prince's brother was nowhere to be seen in the room. The king's attacks were the worst, and they served nothing other than to enrage the crowd even more. These Deku were mad; how I was supposed to free the monkey was a fleeting answer. I could tell, though, that it was imperative that I speak with the king.

Hoping to escape the mob, I slipped through a door resting inconspicuously against a wall. I found myself in a long, flamboyant hallway, albeit surprisingly silent despite the noise pollution in the room I was just in. A sign against the wall to my right informed me that the entrance to the actual Deku Palace was just down the hall, and so I began my journey down it. To my left and right were grand oil paintings depicting what I assumed were past rulers of the Deku Kingdom. I sneaked a peek at each one as I passed by, mentally taken aback by their artistic scrutiny. It was as if they were actually real images; I honestly felt by the time I reached the more recent ones that I was looking at frozen images of reality, instead of paintings. I couldn't even see any brushstrokes.

Turning a corner, I immediately saw a desk with a secretary working busily on some sort of vanilla-colored box with light coming out of one side. "Hello?" I requested. "May I ask a question?"

The Deku eyed me with a touch of surprise. "And what's a young boy such as yourself doing all by himself so late into the night? Where are your parents?"

"Um..." I thought fast. "Just back at the other end of the hall."

"Ah... I see. And what can I do for you, young comrade?"

"I was wondering if I could be directed to the Deku King's chambers, please?"

The Deku practically laughed me away. "And to what end to you expect me to grant you access?"

"I'm...doing research for school," I lied.

The Deku beamed down at me, obviously joyful of his exercise of power. "I'm sorry, boy, but the Royal Chambers are off-limits. Now, if you'd excuse me, we are closing for the evening. You can go now."

I shrugged and left. As soon as I was out of sight, though, I darted behind a pillar and waited.

A Deku had been behind me. Now he was speaking with the secretary, and I wanted to hear what business they were talking about.

"...not working?" the secretary repeated. "What do you mean it's not working?"

"There isn't much we can do," the unknown Deku sighed. "Most of my men have fled the country already. Have you seen the size of the moon?"

"I don't want excuses!" the secretary snapped. "I want results! Now get back there and fix that elevator!"

"I'm trying to tell you, it can't be fixed! Some nutcase tried to tamper with it, and he did it good. It won't be fully in operation until December, at the earliest."

"December!? Praise the King, are you insane? Without that elevator, his majesty won't have an escape route if he is attacked up there! Do you want him to die!?"

"Be quiet and listen! It works, okay? It just doesn't work well. We've got it so that it functions, the ride is just a bit bumpy. And on top of that, you can tell it where to go. That's two months-worth of work, crammed into a week; you should be kissing my leaves, not the other way around!"

I snuck a glance to my right. There was a narrow hallway going down that direction, and though I didn't know what an elevator was, it certainly sounded like it was my ticket into getting an audience with the king. Something was under construction in the middle of the hall—whatever it was, I was sure it was called an "elevator."

"Well, how do you work that hunk of junk, then?" the secretary demanded.

"It's easy. You just connect the ends of the wires. What could be more simple than that?"

"His majesty cannot connect wires! That is the duty of petty laborers, such as yourself!"

I left the two to their bickering and crept down the hallway. A large rectangle, about the size of a door, was cut out from one of the walls. Inside it was a small closet, shaped perfectly like a box. One of its sides was missing part of the wall, and through it stuck many thin, multi-colored vines. "Those must be the wires," I hummed quietly. Peering around in case anybody saw me, I silently crept into the elevator, picked up two wire ends, and pressed them together.

The box suddenly belted upwards, and I gasped as the small room became sealed. The whole chamber seemed to shake and wobble, and I felt a sensation similar to the feeling I had when Kotake rose on her broomstick. It was over as soon as it began, though, and I was quickly greeted by a new hall—or rather, I was looking directly down one.

A dark shadow crept across the red carpet on the floor, and at its reins was a man more frightening than a thousand ReDead. The second I saw him, I darted behind a pillar and cautiously peeked my head around to get a quick glance before hiding again. The mere sight of the Deku King walking towards me made me lose all hope of diplomacy; a giant among Deku, thundering down the hall with only two advisers at his sides to keep his temper down. The monarch's wooden face was almost red with fury, and for the briefest of moments I was reminded of King Zora's face seconds before his demise. The Deku King possessed that same unbelievable degree of hatred that the lord of Zoras took to his grave.

"Filthy monkeys!" the king roared. "They shall all die for this outrage!"

The man on the king's left was slim, long-legged, and shorter than his majesty, though still large for a Deku. He was bare wood, with the exception of balls of leaves to either side of his head and a small, slick mustache on his nozzle. A bow-tie rested upon his exposed chest. I recognized him almost instantly from the Sacrificial Hall; he had been standing by the king as the sovereign made his speech. Though calm and collected then, he was no less animated than the Deku King now—this, however, was a different sort of panic: he was undergoing the great challenge of calming down his majesty. I sympathized for him; it wasn't unlike my futile attempts to calm King Zora.

"Your majesty," the Deku pleaded, "I'm sure if we'd only calm down and speak diplomatically, the monkey would be more than willing to tell us where she is. I don't see why we must slaughter everybody! Just spare the poor boy; I've met with him before, he really is quite reasonable—"

"Listen to him, your majesty!" the other Deku interrupted, rather smugly. "He's been speaking with the enemy! That's treason, if I'm not mistaken."

"Shut up!" the first Deku snapped angrily. "At least I'm trying to stop this insanity!"

"I'll tell you what will stop this: bomb them! They will be kaput!"

"Silence, both of you!" the Deku King fumed. His order echoed over and over again through the hall, and I trembled in the sudden quiet. Nobody spoke, out of fear that whoever made a sound would lose their head. "Wadsworth," the king growled painfully. "I know where my daughter is! He told me the minute I held his hairy neck with my own hands. She's up in Woodfall!" The silence only seemed to deepen. From what I could hear, everybody was shaken.

"W-Woodfall, your majesty?" Wadsworth (apparently the name of the Deku on the king's left) gulped uncomfortably. "By... By the gods..."

There was a loud sound, like the tip of a scepter being slammed onto the floor. "Of all the places in my kingdom," the King repeated, "my dear Anastasia's in Woodfall. The one place where we can't even touch her." Peeking out from behind the pillar, I saw that the king had fallen into a solemn, lumbering gait. He was in a sort of rage that can exist only if one was dangerously close to giving up all hope; the sort of desperation that exists only because one needs it to continue to survive. "That, Wadsworth," he stated lowly, "is why the Monkey Empire must be punished."

Wadsworth looked like he was picking for straws. "Sire, the courts will never stand for this!" he asserted. "We're already being attacked by the Four World Council in Clock Town for this war; there are whispers of a trade embargo if we don't stop—"

"I don't care what those idiots up north think!" the Deku King snapped. "We Deku have been around for centuries longer than those crack-pots, and they think that, just because they threaten to stop trading with us, I'll give up on my daughter? To heck with Dotour and the rest of them! I will win this war!"

"But you won't even talk to the prince!" Wadsworth blurted out in desperation. "You don't even know they actually took her! Your majesty, you could be sentencing an innocent nation to its death, don't you realize that!? All of Termina is at crisis right now; we need peace, not a bloody war!" The Deku was practically in tears, and bowed as low as he could. "Your majesty, I implore you, stop this before it is too late! Whatever you do, you mustn't allow this to happen!"

"Wadsworth..." the king mumbled, approaching the kneeling Deku.

Before they could connect, the other Deku stepped in-between them, cutting the king off from Wadsworth. He was the shortest of them all, the right size for a Deku, without any arms to speak of. Eyes blanketed by a gown of leaves comparable to a weeping willow, his dark face seemed snide and crude. His voice had an unbelievably heavy accent. "No, your majesty, I implore you," he interjected in a dry voice. "Have I not told you before? Don't listen to the butler." Wadsworth, upon hearing this, began to sob. So he wasn't an adviser—he was just the humble butler. "Don't forget," the second Deku continued, "he used to work as an ambassador; his loyalties are not to you, your highness, but to our international relations. Now, if you'd come with me, we can discuss what we were before this sniveling whiner interrupted us. I have a solution that fits much better with your plans."

The king gave one last look at the butler, crying on the floor, but then turned away from Wadsworth and continued walking with the other Deku. "As your Military Adviser," the second Deku explained, "I should be the one to tell you when peace is an option or not, and I can tell you that the moment you let those monkeys go they shall take our noble kingdom for themselves." The king nodded in agreement. "There's only one way to make sure they don't bother our nation ever again. My military scientists have created a weapon so powerful, it can wipe out all your enemies with the push of a button." The king nodded again, clearly open to the idea.

"Please, your majesty," Wadsworth begged, rising slowly behind them. "Don't listen to his lies..." But the butler was ignored.

"Tell me more about this weapon," the Deku King requested, scratching his nozzle.

"As capital punishment to those repulsive simians," the adviser explained, "let me recommend our new weapon that our scientists have just declared operational: the 'atom bomb.' All you have to do is push a button, and in a big blast the monkeys shall be forever exterminated. It is ready now—all we need is your confirmation." The Adviser leaned closer towards the king. "I must add, though, that our time is short. It is only a matter of time before spies (he sneaked a glance back at the butler as he said this) steal this technology. We must act fast and destroy the monkeys before they can claim nuclear weaponry above our's."

Before the king could respond, Wadsworth thrust himself forward and shoved the adviser to the floor. "Your Highness," he demanded, almost shaking, "you mustn't, under any cirsumstance, drop that bomb!" Every word quivered on the edge of desperation. I hid back behind the pillar. "That would be enough of an excuse," he asserted, "for all of Termina to—"

"I've had enough of this Termina garbage, Wadsworth!" the king interrupted. "Until you can come up with a better idea, I think I'm going to give this bomb some consideration. Now, if you'll excuse me, my adviser and I have important matters to discuss."

"Indeed we do, your majesty," the Military Adviser chimed.

Wadsworth was speechless, and quickly abandoned by the King and Adviser as they left down a separate hallway. "My dear King Sibiersky," he whispered sorrowfully, "what has happened to you?"

A thought crossed my mind. The king seemed completely inaccessible—but what if I talked to the butler? It seemed he and I were on the same level—we both wanted the monkey freed. I slipped out from behind the pillar. The butler was staring out of a window, tears trickling down his luminescent eyes. "E-Excuse me?" I coughed.

The butler turned around with surprise. "How did a child such as yourself get here? Out, out!" he shooed.

I held my hands up. "Wait, I'm not who I appear to be! I only want to talk! It's... It's about the monkey prince!"

Wadsworth faltered, but then quickly tidied up his leaves and stood up straight, chest puffed out. "Well? What do you need to know?"

"I'd like to know where the monkey is. I'd like to have a word with him." At this, the butler eyed me warily. "I'm not a traitor or anything! Just..." I took a deep breath. "I'm looking for something. Something important. And I think the monkey knows where it is."

"You're here to free the monkey, aren't you?" the butler whispered sternly, more of a statement than a question. Dang, that was fast. "I can't let you do that." I was about to get the heck out of there, but he added something to his last sentence. "...unless, of course, you do something for me."

I froze. "And...what would that be?"

Wadsworth approached me. "I fear that something very wrong is happening in our kingdom. The princess was just the beginning—I fear the worst has yet to happen. I fear that the fate of our swamp lies in the king's decision on how to deal with the monkey empire, and his military adviser seems to think similarly. I don't know why, but his adviser has been behaving differently of late; it is as if he schemes to help bring the end of the swamp!"

I didn't respond.

"I don't trust him at all, and it concerns me that he has been so close to the king lately." The butler rested a hand on my shoulder. "Lad, I feel that the only way to stop it from happening is if somebody can get Princess Anastasia back." I nodded. "I will only help you free the monkey if you do this for me, for your people: get our princess back."

Great, another princess to rescue. With any luck, Anastasia wouldn't be as much of a brat as Zelda or Ruto. But I was a hero—the Hero of Time, at that—and I had no choice but to comply. "I promise you," I told him, "help me free the monkey, and I will find you your girl."

The butler bowed. "I thank you greatly."

-

Wadsworth told me what the plan would be. He would secretly authorize the release of Link the Monkey, but I would have to get the prince out myself. As it turned out, I was now inside the royal palace, so the only way to slip past the guards would be via the catwalks and balconies along the exterior wall. The butler helped me slip through a window and onto a veranda and pointed out a Deku Flower. "Slip into one of these, and it will launch you into the heavens. The monkey is at the top of the palace. Be careful, and you should be there in no time."

And so I found myself back in the rain, left alone by Wadsworth. The wind was stronger where I was, high above the ground (perhaps five or six stories?). It whipped at my hat, and I was a bit worried that it would blow me away—I was, after all, a small wooden boy. From the balcony, I could see many tall, thin shadows in the distance—three, in fact, and from their locations I assumed there was a fourth on the other side of the palace. I recognized them immediately: guard towers, rising from the trees and looking out over their canopies with sentinel-like foreboding. Whether or not they saw me now, I was sure they'd notice my ascent sometime soon. I had to be quick.

I eyed a green-and-purple flower resting in a large urn on the wooden platform. The flower was bigger than I was. Taking a deep breath and trusting the butler, I jumped feet first into the big maw the flower had for a bud.

Everything went dark. Strange, delicate feelers probed my body inside the flower. Then, all of the sudden, the thing came to life and spit me out. The force of my propulsion was so powerful, though, that I was sent multiple stories into the air, and landed rather flustered on a balcony to my direct left. "Always learn something new," I huffed.

The balcony, as it turned out, had a bit of a narrow ledge on the other side. Gulping, promising myself not to look down, I squeezed my entire body against the wall and started sidling across. Crossing the ledge and making my way up a catwalk, I happened by an open window. Normally I would have cared less, but the adviser, of all people, was inside, speaking to a guard. The guard seemed to be high-ranking, and I decided to sneak a quick listen.

"...button. Once that is done, I want you to gather your men and take out the other guards. I want nobody keeping me away from the king, do you understand?"

"Yes, sir!" the guard nodded.

"Excellent... It is only a matter of time, now."

"How did you ever get the king to agree?"

"Simple: I lied. He thinks the Woods of Mystery will be the only place damaged. He doesn't realize the bomb will blow up the entire swamp! The bomb is far more powerful than he realizes, Vladmir."

"When will it be ready?"

"Well, that's the problem, now isn't it? It won't be ready to leave the temple until tomorrow. We'll just have to keep that butler away from Woodfall until then."

I still didn't understand how an "atom" bomb was different from an ordinary bomb, but from what it sounded like my window of opportunity to find the princess and the giant had just shrunk to only a few hours!

I peeked up from the railing of the catwalk. The adviser was looking out of the window (thank goodness he didn't see me). He was wearing a strange sort of mask, a wooden mask that looked like the face of an angry warrior. "It is only a matter of time, Vladmir, until the Woodfall giant is gone for good."

That was exactly what I wanted to hear—finally, I had a lead on where the giant was. It seemed that all the answers—the bomb, the princess, and the giant—lay somewhere on Mt. Woodfall. But I had very little time left. Sticking to the railing, I scurried past the window and continued my way up the palace's outer wall.

-

On the roof of the green palace was, to my surprise, a golden cage. Inside it was an even greater surprise: a boy who looked exactly like I did as a Hylian. "Hello?" I stammered.

The boy nearly jumped, and probably would have if he hadn't been caged in. "Huh? A Deku?" He bared his teeth. "What do you want?" he growled.

"Calm down!" I waved. "I'm here to get you out of here."

"Easier said than done," the boy grumbled. I was surprised he was who I was rescuing—I had expected...well, a monkey. "There is a laser grid all around my cage. That grid is controlled by the guard towers; there's no way a puny kid like you could get through without burning to death."

At this, I felt a little smug. "Well, I think 'thank you's' are in order." Mentally, I prayed to the goddesses that Wadsworth finished his part of the bargain by now. Otherwise, I was in for some warmer weather... "I just so happened to have authorized your release! All I need to do is open the cage, and you're good to go!"

The boy blinked in surprise. "Really? Wow, you've got guts... You needn't worry about opening this cage, though; I can do it myself." My eye caught a thin, white, fur-covered rope snake out between the cage bars. It was nothing less than a monkey's tail, and dangling on its tip was a keyring. "I have a knack for swiping keys," he grinned with a wink. "This isn't the first time ol' Sibiersky has locked me up. That's why they implemented a laser grid this time." The tail curled around the side of the cage, offering me the keyring. "You came to save me," the boy explained. "Have at it!"

I took a deep breath and hesitated. Did Wadsworth get the job done? I shut my eyes, held my breath, and approached. With every step I took a jump back, fearing I had been fatally burnt. But every time, I was perfectly alright, until finally I hit my forehead on the edge of the cage and opened my eyes. "Sorry about that," I muttered sheepishly, eying the boy's smug expression.

Wasting little time, I took the key he was offering me and twisted it in the keyhole. With a click, the top of the cage vanished and the rest of it sank into the roof. The boy moaned as he stretched (his limbs must have understandably been stiff after sitting in that small cage), and with a sharp breath stood up.

Now that I was able to get a good look at him, I gasped. Standing before me, almost exactly at eye-level, was somebody who, believe it or not, looked like a replica of myself. The few differences were blatant, of course, but it was as if I had looked into the mirror after being turned into something hairy. He looked just like me, but his snow-white hair covered his entire body, sans his face, ears, hands, and feet. His hands and feet were bare, but one important difference compared to mine was that his feet were almost virtually the same as his hands, with thumbs and everything. A long, curling tail wove its way out from under his clothes, which were identical to my Kokiri Tunic in every way. When he spoke, his voice sounded like mine to the very note—well, maybe a little more pompous and aristocratic, but he was after all a prince. "Salutations," he bowed. "I am the young Prince of the Monkey Empire; you can just call me Link, though."

"Wow," I remarked, breathless at the appearance of my mirror image.

"Is everything alright?" the monkey asked with concern. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

I shook my head and snapped out of it. "No, it's just... You look like somebody I know."

Link raised an eyebrow. "I'm sorry to say this, but we've never met. What's your name?"

I bowed respectfully. "You'll never believe this, your highness... But my name is Link too."

Now the prince was astonished. "No, really?"

I nodded. "Really. I'm not from around here, but that's the full truth."

He whistled. "Wow, what a coincidence! But where are my manners? Link, thank you very much for rescuing me."

"It was my pleasure, your highness. But I need your help. I need to get into Woodfall."

"Then you are in luck," the prince smiled. "Woodfall is exactly where I'm headed next. The princess is still there, after all. We princes enjoy rescuing maidens from their towers, and I need to rescue mine." He motioned to me. "Come on! I know somebody who can get us to the summit! Let's get out of here, before the King finds out!"

-

Sneaking out of the palace grounds was something I had forgotten to consider, but with the prince at my side it was our only option. Even in the dying light of the giant moon, his snow-white fur stood out like a lamp, and his status made him easily recognizable even to a Deku commoner. We couldn't travel back through the palace interior—we had to scale the dark side of the castle walls, relying on its shadow to keep his majesty's hair out of sight.

The descent was far easier for him than it was for me, though; his tail was just like a fifth hand, and he could hang on to just about anything. With my puny Deku hands and digit-less feet, I had difficulty holding on to anything at all. I wasn't ready just yet to reveal my true form to the monkey prince, though. I wanted to see if I could trust him before I played my hand.

When we landed in the gardens behind the palace, Link pulled me underneath the tall swamp flowers. "Nobody but the gardeners are supposed to be back here," he whispered. "Not even a Deku like you can be seen without being arrested." We clung to the ground, inching our way across the black field towards one of the outer walls of the palace.

"How will we get over the wall without being spotted by the watch towers?" I asked quietly.

"That's the hard part," he answered anxiously. "With the war going on, these walls are being watched like a hawk. We're going to have to be very, very careful." He looked deep into my eyes. "Are you sure you want to do this? You could be giving up your life forever by helping me escape. Once they see you assisting me, they won't let you safely into the kingdom ever again. Your family, everything... It will all be gone."

I shook my head. "I'm going to help you escape, your highness. It's my job."

"In that case," Link replied, "get ready to...hello, what do we have here?"

To our surprise, we stumbled right in front of a hole. "Must have been dug out by gophers," the monkey observed. "Good thing for us, because the gophers this far south are just about our size."

I gulped. "Our size?"

Link nodded slowly. "Yeah, our size. You didn't know that?"

"Never mind."

Without another moment to lose, Link led me down the hole, which was really more of a tunnel, diving deep underneath the ground before suddenly jerking upwards and leading us to the surface.

After we surfaced, Link brushed the dirt off his fur. "Well, that was a bit messy, but we should be home free." He looked around. "And what luck! We're just where we want to be!" He cupped his hands around his mouth and made a hooting sound. He repeated it over and over, and then listened. We heard nothing.

Then, suddenly, there was a crack as something large landed on a tree branch above us. We darted our eyes up, preparing for an ambush, only to find a single large owl peering down at us.

"Hoo! You called, young prince?" the owl greeted, showing a surprising knowledge of intelligent language. His voice was deep and haunting, and echoed in the surrounding forest for the longest time. "Looks like you found a twin! What can I do for the both of you at this most earliest of hours?"

"Kaepora Gaebora, I was hoping you could do me a favor."

The owl bowed. "Of course, anything for you. You did, after all, assist me with a favor when you saved me from that wretched Korkawkaw. What is it that you need?"

"Please fly us to the summit of Mt. Woodfall. There is somebody there that we need to save."

The owl was silent for a moment. He seemed obviously nervous. "W-Woodfall, you say? Well... That might be a bit... Who is it you need to save, did you say?"

"The princess of the Deku Kingdom. We need to end this war."

"Well, why didn't you say so?" Though he still seemed a bit flustered, the owl swooped down from the branch and flapped right above us, blasting a stream of humid swamp air into our eyes. "I'd love to lend my assistance in ending this war—peacefully, that is. Hop on top of my talons," he offered, "and I shall fly you both to the top!"

-

Despite dawn being just around the corner, the sky inside the dark clouds around Woodfall were as black as night. I felt very vulnerable, not being able to see the world around me, so I tried to distract my attention with some conversation. "So how did the King ever get ahold of you?" I asked my monkey companion as we both clung to the owl's talons.

"I knew you'd ask," he grinned back. "This whole thing is one big misunderstanding, you know. Ever wondered how the king knew his daughter was kidnapped, not just missing? I told him."

"And he captured you?" I gawked.

"Come on, don't you know anything about your own king? He jumps to conclusions quicker than a cat pounces on a mouse! The princess and I were investigating some suspicious activity near Woodfall when a shadow reached out from the mountain and grabbed her. The first thing I did was tell her father, and he blamed me for tricking her into being captured!"

"Wow. Your kingdoms must really hate each other."

"It goes back into ancient history, ever since the Ikana...well, you know, you're a Deku! But you know what? Against all the misery, all the suspicion, I met Sibiersky's girl, the most beautiful blossom in the jungle. So something good must have come out of it, don't you think?"

I blinked. "You mean you and the princess are..."

"Yep!" I'd never seen somebody with a happier grin on their face. "We're in love!"

I didn't know what to say. I was about to protest, to try to find some way that it could be a joke, when I recalled a similar relationship, one that I almost relinquished. Instead of debating, I only sighed. "I know how you must feel," was all I would say.

Rising above the clouds, we found ourselves between two cloud layers, both of them dark and rainy. It was like stepping into a new world, a world full of wind, rain, thunder, and lightning. They swirled in a circle around Woodfall's purple top, blocking off view of all that was above or below us. The only window we had into the outside world was the open sky between the clouds, which grasped the dark-orange color of dawn. "Hoo!" the owl remarked, stabilizing himself in the wind. "It is a hurricane up here, isn't it?"

Woodfall... Termina never ceased to amaze me. When we rose over the side of the extinct volcano's crater, I had wholly expected to see an ancient temple, like the many ones in Hyrule. The Woodfall Temple—and I knew it was such because it was the single building in the crater's bog—was nothing close to my schema. "Is that where we're going?" I gulped. Link gave me a solemn, silent nod. The Woodfall Temple was build out of moss-covered stone as green as Mt. Woodfall itself. Rising from the antique blocks, however, were thick smokestacks spewing opaque white clouds endlessly from their tops. Large sewer pipes protruded from the temple's sides, sludge gushing out of them and into the water of the bog. The pollution's stench was strong enough to reach us from the skies, and I desperately wished I could plug my nose. Loud crashes and bangs came from the temple's open doors, as if a lot was going on inside the iron fortress (for indeed, most of the stone was shielded off by silvery metal).

"If you can believe it," Link remarked after seeing my intrigue, "the temple used to be a water purification center. It cleaned the water. Not any more."

"What is that stuff?" I grimaced, eying the goop with discontent. "It smells horrible!"

"Nuclear waste. It's nasty, isn't it? The Deku figured out that they could use power from the big geyser in the volcano's center to fuel the production of nuclear energy. But the byproducts of it just get dumped into the swamp. That's why the water's so poisonous." The owl dived to avoid a flock of birds. "You can bet all your bananas that the king doesn't know about this," the monkey assured.

"Then who does?"

"His military advisor, of course," Link hummed. "Remember Anastasia and I's little trip up Woodfall? That's how we found out he and his men turned the temple into a power plant."

I gulped and stared disapprovingly down at the pipes as they polluted Woodfall's bog. After a while, I uttered, "I still can't believe a building could be capable of such destruction to the environment."

"Believe it. Why do you think they need parks over in Clock Town? There used to be a big forest there, until the Termanian industries cut it all down. I learned in school that the forest used to be mistier than the Woods of Mystery here in the swamp. Colder too," he added, fanning himself with his foot-hand.

The owl hooted, and began to warily eye great cones of light emitting from some cylinders at the top of the temple. "Brace yourselves, young travelers," he warned, "we're beginning our descent! I can't fly any closer to the temple or I'll be spotted in their searchlights."

"Be careful when we land," the monkey cautioned me. "The waters up here are so saturated with acids and chemicals that you'd dissolve almost instantly if you fell into it. Watch your step."

I nodded. "I'll do my best."

The owl sank gently towards a small wooden platform rising from the goopy water in the crater, along the back of the temple. "Hoo, this sure is a mess," he remarked. "And to believe this was once a temple to the gods! Hmph!"

"Times change, I guess."

With esteemed grace, the owl set his talons on the tied-up logs, and we were down. "This is the altar the Deku used to pray at," Link told me. "The Princess told me only one who could play the Sonata of Awakening could awaken the temple's guardian deity to let them in. It looks like we won't be needing to do that, though." He directed my attention to a small opening in the side of the temple. "We just need a way to get into there on our own."

"Wait," I motioned. We weren't alone on the platform. In the darkness, I could see the fiery colored leaves of a Mad Scrub, approaching us with hostility. "Look out!" Link ducked just in time to avoid a Deku Nut fired our way. Before the Mad Scrub could launch another, I fired one back and hit it square in the forehead. It was knocked backwards, and with a squeak it tumbled into the water. We could hear it burn.

I clutched my head noxiously. Link looked at me with concern. "Are you alright?" he asked quietly. I was quite shaken.

"It's a little...strange... He was one of my own kind, and I... I just incinerated him."

"Hey, get used to it. I don't like it any more than you do, but these guys would do the same to you if you let them." He patted my back. "Thanks for saving me, though." We turned our attention back to the temple. "Now then, if I know your kind well enough, the princess should be in their detention center."

"Their what?"

"Their... Oh, come on, you know what a detention center is, right?" He was blatantly surprised, and even more so when I shook my head.

"Link, maybe I should tell you this, but..." I shifted uncomfortably, just as I always did when I started this story. "I'm...not from Termina. Not even from this world."

"I-Is that so?" the Monkey Prince mumbled to himself. For a moment I thought he had decided I was mad, but when he gave me another one of his smiles I was reassured of his confidence. "A boy of many mysteries. You can bet yourself I won't let you out of my presence until you tell me of how you came to get here. But the time for stories is later, and I shall save my questions as such." He patted my shoulder and pointed at a nearby Deku Flower. "Come, Link; my sweetheart awaits in the cold prison of Woodfall."

-

The Woodfall Temple, if it could be even called that, was a curious mixture of the ordinary and the strange. I could see remnants of its usage as a religious structure—paintings dedicated to a strange masked warrior, hailing him as he fought off evil demons and protected the Deku Palace from harm. But a lot of the ancient architecture was destroyed in order to set up metal platforms and what Link called "generators," powering some sort of machine that we could only guess at.

"Princess Anastasia is trapped somewhere inside this power plant," Link observed. "But I know she is not strong enough to require all this energy. I wonder if they are hiding something else here...or somebody."

"It could be the bomb," I suggested.

"You mean the bomb those Deku bureaucrats were talking about when they came to mock me?" Link didn't seem so sure. "Whatever it is, they don't want us to find it." There was a sound somewhere in a nearby hall. "Come on," Link ordered, grabbing my arm. "Somebody's coming!"

"Where are we going?" I felt at an utter loss, still relatively new to this world, and was beginning to become frustrated at how much I had to rely on others for direction.

"Um..." Link looked for somewhere to hide. "Well..." I suppose he was at a loss too.

Unfortunately, we ran out of time. Before we could decide on anywhere to escape, our visitor came forth from the dark corridor. I wasn't sure my eyes were working correctly when I first saw it—but no matter how many times I rubbed those fluorescent orbs, the creature remained the same. It was...well, to this day I'm not sure what it was. It was so black, so absorbed with malice and wickedness, that all the light around it was sucked from our world and absorbed by the air surrounding the creature. The only color to break free was a fiery red-orange, which glittered at us like two dot-like eyes. The creature didn't make a word, but merely stared at us, just as we stared back. Nobody moved for the longest time, until finally the sun's light peeked through a window on the wall and blinded Link and I for the slightest of moments. No sooner had our eyes adjusted than the creature had vanished.

"What was that?" I asked in vain.

"I... I don't know, Link. The only things I've ever seen like that, even remotely... Were the pair of black, shadowy hands that took my princess away from me." That was all the monkey boy dared utter.

"I think those hands know we're here now, Link, whoever or whatever they belong to."

The prince would not reply. He seemed to be distant, away in his own little world, as if remembering something from long ago. "I thought the Shadow left with the Ikana..." he mumbled, to nobody at all. "Why is it here? What does it want with us?"

"The Shadow?" I blinked. "What do you mean by the Shadow?"

Link looked at me with sad eyes. "I wish I could tell you, Link," he whispered hauntingly. "I wish we all could tell you. Then, maybe, you'd understand."

-

The lack of any light in the tunnels ahead of us was enough to tell me we were in for a long descent into darkness. Link was intent on avoiding any Deku guards we passed (and there were many; it was like sneaking through the Gerudo Fortress again), but after we passed a whole cluster I suggested that we pin one down and "ask" for directions.

We spotted a lone guard down near a giant wooden flower statue. "Well I'll be..." Link remarked quietly.

"What?" I whispered back.

He strained his neck to look at me in the tight air vent we were passing through. "I've seen old blueprints for that flower. This is the direct center of the mountain. The spring water rises out from around the flower's base, and then the flower spins, cleaning it before it leaves the crater."

"That's...ingenious!" I gasped. A...water cleaner? I'd never heard of anything like it!

"That's probably another reason why the swamp is so polluted now. Somebody turned the flower off—I hate to say it, but that flower was a stroke of genius by the Deku. Somebody has a lot of guts."

We descended quietly upon the guard, and soon had him pinned against the purple goop that now surrounded the flower. Link demanded the location of the princess—to our surprise, the guard was quick to give it up. Against my wishes, Link let him go after that.

"We can't trust him," I whispered sharply as soon as we had returned to our sleuthing. "He's going to tell the adviser we're here, you know. Not to mention we could be walking our way straight into prison."

"Look," Link snapped, "I don't care. Perhaps he did lie. But it is the only lead I have, and it only takes one small possibility to deduce the truth. Have a little faith in me—I didn't plan on coming here just to get killed." I didn't say a word back. I hadn't expected such a retaliation. Link was a little surprised with himself too. It didn't take him long to give me an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry for snapping like that. It's just... After that thing showed up..." His face dropped again, his voice back into a whisper, and he turned away from me. I'm not exactly sure what he said after that, but I managed to catch, "...those accursed Ikana..." followed by some sort of sniff.

-

The Woodfall Temple was darker than any temple I had ever encountered, sans the inky Shadow Temple itself. It was almost scary, sneaking through those passageways, half metal and half moss-covered rock, squinting as hard as we could to see through the dim light. I had it a little easier than Link, I think. It appeared the Deku were built for the dark, and though at times it was a struggle, I was able to see in crystal clear detail in the darkest of lights. Link, on the other hand, kept bonking into things. I asked if he was alright, but he wouldn't speak to me.

I kept wondering about the "Shadow." I, of course, figured Link was talking about the shadow that took the Deku Princess; however, I wasn't too sure. The way he spoke of the "Shadow," it sounded like everybody in Termina knew that name. And what about the Ikana? Nobody gave me a straight answer about them. Who were they, anyway?

Every now and then, we'd pass by segments of the walls left bare by the adviser's men. They depicted a strange creature, with a grinning face and a pair of bull horns, crouching down and peering malevolently at the people walking past. Why on earth, I thought, would the Deku construct such a scary place? Perhaps, back when it was being used for religious purposes, it was a lot livelier.

And then, we, both of us, heard a cackling laugh that echoed through the corridor we were now sneaking through. It was the darkest hall yet, out of hundreds of halls (surely, we had delved into a labyrinth inside Mt. Woodfall; not even religious temples housed such mazes). We had just been beginning to drop our guard, relaxed by the lack of any guards to speak of. This cachination, however, froze us to the very bone.

I spun around. "Who's there?" I demanded.

The laughter stopped almost immediately. My revolution was just in time, it seemed, because whatever was laughing didn't want us to see it for very long. I only caught a glimpse before it ran away, not by turning around but by simply fading into darkness. It was a face I was now beginning to recognize: the blood-stained face of the Majora's Mask.

Suddenly, I became aware that the prince wasn't at my side. "Your highness?" I called. "Prince!" There was a moan from where the Skull Kid had just stood. I hustled over, swimming my way through the palpable darkness as if it were tall grass in a nighttime swamp.

It didn't take long to find him. He lay on the arbitrary floor, groaning in dull agony. I inhaled sharply when I saw one of his snow-white arms tinted with an inkblot of crimson red. "Link!" I gasped. "Are you... Are you alright? What happened?"

"What?" I jumped in surprise and turned my head. To my shock, Link stood in front of me, in perfectly good health. "What do you mean, what happened?"

I quickly glanced back behind me. The injured body was gone. "Are you... Are you hurt?" I stuttered.

"Nnnnnoooo... Are you hurt?"

I shook my head in embarrassment. "N-No, I don't think so."

"Did you hear that wind?" he asked. "Creepy. But I think that means we're getting close to some sort of wide-open space. Let's keep going. I'm sure the end is near!"

"The end of what?" I replied silently. I gulped. If he wasn't really injured, then was that a sign? Or was it a warning? What did I witness?

We kept walking in silence for some time. At last, though, my keen eyes picked out a break in the narrow wall. "Aha!" I exclaimed. "I think I found our space!" I directed the near-blinded monkey's eyes towards a metal door, bolted with an immeasurable amount of locks. "I don't think we're getting in, though."

Link grinned. "Remember what I told you about locks?" He stepped forward. "Let me do it."

-

I took a sharp breath. Inside the room was a giant woman, both powerful and beautiful at the same time. It was another Great Fairy. She shimmered in a pink light, more elegant than any worldly being, yet her face was full of turmoil. Many strange, metal arms surrounded her, emitting a bubble of electricity that prevented anything from touching her. Inside the bubble, which was not unlike Princess Ruto's electric force field, a device in the center of the floor seemed to be giving the floating queen great pain.

"That's terrible," Link growled, pointing at the device. "At least we know what powers this temple now. They're extrapolating the Great Fairy's energy and converting it into nuclear power," he explained. "That's what's creating all the chemicals and pollution—its the junk left over from the fuel powering these machines."

These were all terms I'd never heard before. It wasn't too hard to make heads and tails of it, though. "So... They're getting their power from the Great Fairy?" The monkey prince nodded. "Well, we have to do something about that!"

He nodded again. "Come on, let's see if we can find the switch to turn this thing off."

We found it with little trouble. It was a large box covered in countless push-switches shaped like buttons, with a few levers and a lot of flashing lights. Link called it a "control panel." After looking at it for a while, he pushed down the switch with some Deku word written over it that I couldn't understand.

With a screeching noise, the metal arms pulled away from the force field and contracted. The slurping sound being made by the device in the floor's center stopped, and with a fizz the force field dissipated. The Great Fairy was free.

This Great Fairy was identical to the one I had met in Clock Town in all ways but color. Whereas the fairy in the park in Clock Town was orange, with blue all around her, this one was surrounded with a pink glow, and her hair matched the glow's color to the very wavelength. She was naked, but a rope of vines and leaves coiled around her entire body.

"Thank you, young heroes, for rescuing me," she cooed, bowing gratefully. "I was worried I'd never get out of here."

"How did you get here in the first place?" Link asked. "I would have thought somebody as powerful as you could have fended off a bunch of firewood—no offense," he quickly added, glancing at me.

"You can thank their military adviser for that," she answered darkly. "It was his idea."

"How long have you been trapped here?" I inquired, eying the rope marks on her wrists. She must have been tied up for some period of time.

"Since August. Near the end of the month, I started noticing some of the Deku military lingering up at the top of Mt. Woodfall; I hadn't seen any up here since the mountain was declared forbidden territory. They started wandering in the temple, taking figures and calculating something, so I decided to check on what they were up to. Before I knew what was going on, I found myself imprisoned in this room, my very soul being used for their bizarre experiments."

"I'll bet you I know what they were using you for," I mumbled to myself. The only plausible thing would be the nuclear bomb. At least as far as I understood, they'd need something with unbelievable power to fuel the bomb's projected explosion.

"You'll be glad to know, Madam Fairy, that we're here to put a stop to this," Link told the fairy. "You needn't worry about being used ever again."

The Great Fairy stooped down so that we were eye-to-eye. "The adviser is no ordinary Deku," she warned in a low tone. "He personally was the one who locked me up; his powers are not to be underestimated."

"I can't understand what went wrong," Link said, scratching his chin. "The adviser was one bad dude, but never this bad."

"He wears a mask, a gift from a goddess," the Great Fairy explained. "To him, it is a mark of the former god of his people, but do not be fooled. He sold his soul to the evil Majora, and the mask marks his allegiance. He serves the devil now, not the Deku King."

Link backed up, waving his hands. "Whoa, isn't that a bit too far? I mean... I know Deku are no-good two-timers, but I don't think they're that bad. I mean..."

The Great Fairy brought a finger to her lips. "Hush, young prince. If my words do not bring you absolution, then perhaps what the event that now approaches shows you will."

He tilted his head. "What do you mean?"

"I'll tell you what that means," I answered quickly. "It means we'll be having a close conversation with him before the day is over." I had never thought of things that way before, but now that I considered it, it was inevitable that we'd have to confront the adviser. He was, after all, planning to drop a bomb on the two kingdoms. Wait, the... "Great Fairy!" I exclaimed suddenly. "Quick, you must tell us! Where can we find the bomb?"

The Great Fairy shook her head slowly. "I'm sorry to tell you this, but the atom bomb is not present in this temple. Or rather, not anymore."

"Drat!" I growled. "They must have already moved it to the palace!"

"It was a distraction," the monkey blurted with a pound of his foot. "That's why that guard told us where the princess was. So that we'd be wandering down here in the detention facility while they were moving the bomb down the mountain!"

"I can't believe it... This temple was one big goose chase!" Boy was I frustrated. For all we knew, the bomb could be set to go off in a few minutes!

At this outrage, though, the Great Fairy silenced us once more. "Shh! I may not be able to help you find the bomb, but I can help you find the princess. She is trapped behind a veil of monstrous vines. Only the sharpest of swords could break her loose."

I was about to speak up when the Monkey Prince announced proudly that he, in fact, had such a sword. I don't know why I had never noticed it, but just like me, Link had a sword dangling in a sheath against his back. I couldn't help but do a Deku smile. He really was just like me.

"Lead me to my destiny," he asked the fairy. "It is time to set this poor princess free."

-

The shredded vines revealed a jungle's pearl. Perhaps it was just my Deku instincts, but though before I never would have pictured a plant woman beautiful, the ultimate blossom lingered before our shadows. She did not look at all like a prisoner. A flower-like parasol hung like a colorful cloud over her pink-and-green leaves. Her luminescent eyes, like glowing mushrooms at night, were only half-open, as if this entire time she had been lounging. Though she was a tad bit shorter than me, she had the entire atmosphere of a spoiled, but elegant, princess. The Deku King had raised her well.

Her eyes grew wide when she recognized the hairy boy next to me. "Link? Is that... Is that you?" Her parasol dropped with a thud to the floor. With a sudden leap of ecstatic joy, she flung her draping, leafy arms around the monkey prince and squeezed lovingly. "My dearest monkey! I knew you would come for me!"

"Anastasia, how I've missed you!" Link answered, holding her tight. "Are you alright?"

"I could make an old, withering Deku Flower bloom now that you're here!" She gave him a kiss on the cheek. "You'll never believe what I saw! There's... Oh, Link, something horrid is lurking in this temple! I—"

"I hate to interrupt you, your highness," I cut in urgently, "but we don't have time to talk! Your father's twisted adviser's brought the bomb into the capitol!"

"What!?" she gasped, raising a leaf-veiled hand to her nozzle. "Well that's terrible! We shall have to stop him immediately!"

"You mean you're coming?" Link objected.

"Now don't start again," Anastasia snapped as she hurriedly picked up her parasol. "We haven't a moment to lose, and it's my kingdom! I have a duty to protect it!" She was just as absolute as her father, I thought smugly. Not quite unlike Princess Ruto.

-

None of us expected what met us at the palace. "My word!" the princess cried as we passed through the gatehouse. "What has been going on!?" Everywhere we looked, monkeys armed with swords and strange little devices that fired something I couldn't see struggled with Deku soldiers. The streets were a great mess of dead bodies, both Deku and Monkey. In the clouds above, I could hear a rattling sound and loud buzzing, and I saw flashes of light.

The Deku butler scrambled towards us. "Children, I must get you all to safety! The Monkeys have launched an attack on our palace!"

"I think that's quite obvious, Wadsworth," Anastasia harped. "What on earth is going on here?"

"The King believes the monkeys captured you, my child!" Wadsworth hastily explained. "Did you not know? We are at war!"

"What!?" the princess screamed. "He can't just go to war!"

"Wadsworth," I reported, "we need to find the king as fast as we can. The bomb is already somewhere in the palace!"

Wadsworth was stunned. "Din's Fire!" he cried. "That means..." There was a great explosion on the wall just above our heads. The princess screamed, and the monkey prince jumped to shield her from the falling debris. "Your highness! We must get you to safety!" Wadsworth pulled out a large umbrella and pulled all of us underneath it. "This umbrella will keep us safe from danger above. Now hurry, we must get inside!"

We were hustled by the butler into a small shrine near the ceremonial quarter. Inside, we caught our breath. "Wadsworth, where is my father?" Anastasia huffed. "I must see him immediately!"

"I... I can't find him anywhere!"

"Wadsworth," I coughed, "you were right about the military adviser."

"What!? But... Last thing I saw, the king was walking away with him!" The butler was at a loss of what to do—too many discoveries were going on at once, I suppose.

"He could be ready to push the button any minute!" Link exclaimed. "Wadsworth, don't you have any idea where he might be?"

"Well... If the bomb is already here... He must be in the throne room! That's where the button is, any way."

Link and I exchanged worried glances. "Let's go, now!" I ordered.

-

"I can't believe father would do such a thing!" the Deku Princess squeaked. Link was briefing her on everything that was going on while we ran. "That's just not like him at all!"

"I'll bet you a thousand bananas that your father hasn't been himself since you went missing, my dear," the monkey replied. "He's been bonkers—just look around you!" Indeed, the fighting was getting more intense the closer we got to the palace entrance.

Just then, we passed by a squad of Deku soldiers. They turned away from what they were doing, and began to follow us. "Um, Link, I think we have company," I called to my left.

"For the love of Nayru, why do these toy soldiers always mess things up?" He turned his head back to look at our pursuers. "Hey, veggie breaths! We're on your side!"

The soldiers didn't back off. "I don't think these are the right kind of soldiers," I observed nervously.

"By royal decree," the princess demanded, "leave us alone!" The soldiers continued to follow us. Soon, they'd be close enough to fire Deku Nuts with pin-point accuracy. "Blast that adviser..."

"You know what?" Link growled. "I need to take out some frustration with these guys." He let go of Anastasia's hands. "Anastasia, my darling, go ahead and find the king. I'll catch up." He looked at me. "Good luck, boy of many mysteries."

I nodded. "Same to you."

With that, Link, Prince of the Monkeys, turned around and left us for the ever-larger mass of Deku soldiers chasing us. We didn't turn around to watch—we just kept running, the butler, princess, and I, until we reached the palace.

-

What we found when we arrived was horrifying. There were two people in the room already. One was the Deku King, hanging limply in the air a foot above the steps to his throne. His eyes were wide open, his lazy expression frozen as if in a trance. The other was the military adviser, mask and everything, standing on the throne and looking up at the king's face. A strange, glowing, yellow energy, like dozens of magical worms, connected the king's eyes to the eyes of the adviser's mask. It didn't take Saria to figure out what was going on.

"Daddy!" Anastasia cried as soon as she stumbled into the room. "What are you doing to my father!?" No sooner did she ask than the great Deku King collapsed to the floor no different than a rag doll crumpling into a pile. Our Deku nozzles "dropped."

"Your majesty!" Wadsworth roared. "No!" Before either of us could stop him, the butler charged furiously at the military adviser. "I'll kill you for what you've done!!!"

The adviser held out a claw-like hand, so nobbled that it looked like the branch of a gnarled tree. "It's too late," he droned. Our eyes widened at the sight of a large red button underneath the hand. His arm rose slightly, then rushed down to slam the button.

A split second before the button could be pressed, Wadsworth slammed his head into the adviser, grabbed him, and threw him away from the throne. The adviser went sliding across the room, until he hit a pillar. Wadsworth took the wire coming out of the button's device and tore it apart. "I cannot allow you to destroy our world!" he announced angrily.

"You shouldn't have done that," the adviser growled. All of us blinked. He stood right in front of Wadsworth, as if he had never been tossed. Even worse, all of the sudden he seemed to be a whole lot bigger. The princess and I backed away. The adviser grabbed the butler with a single hand and lifted him above the ground. "I'm far too powerful for you to silence me now, Wadsworth. You should have figured that out by now."

"And why is that?" I demanded, stalling for time. "What made you so powerful?"

The adviser turned his masked face to me. "There are more of us, you know," he said darkly. "More than you could ever imagine. They're everywhere, working for her."

"More of who?"

"You're foolish to try to stop her, Hero of Time. You should never have decided to play her game. You should never have gotten involved."

"Whose game!? You mean Majora's?"

"She won't kill everybody. She helps those who are loyal, just as she helped me."

"Helped you do what? Kill off a whole race?"

"Better." He turned his head, mask and all, back to the butler. The mask's mouth opened, and a frog-like tongue launched out of it and hooked itself to poor Wadsworth, who struggled at first but then fell limp. All he could do was scream as a green light appeared around him, traveled down the tongue, and entered the adviser. When the light vanished, so did Wadsworth's cries. His entire body hung lifelessly in the masked Deku's grip. With a flick of the wrist the military adviser flung Wadsworth through the air and into a wall behind us. The Deku Butler's body collapsed to the floor, motionless. "You can have your foolish servant back," the adviser growled. "The King won't need him anymore." His head twitched slightly.

"Mark my words, Child of Farore," he snickered, "no matter where you run, no matter where you hide, she will find you. Your loved ones will perish, your mind will rot; and then, when you are begging for mercy, she will leave you a lifeless corpse. Do not cross fire with a goddess." Suddenly, the adviser began to grow in size, and as he did he began to change.

"Princess," I trembled. "Get Wadsworth to safety. Now!" Anastasia nodded and ran behind us to get her butler. After that, I can only assume she left. I couldn't check to find out, because in front of us the adviser had taken a new form entirely. A giant swordsman stood in the spacious chamber, staring down at me through dark holes in the mask, which had also grown to fit his head. In one hand he held an enormous sword; in the other, a massive shield. He was no longer made of wood—instead, his naked body was covered in smooth, dark green skin, covered in countless red and blue tattoos.

"Surprised?" the swordsman laughed in a deep voice, causing the entire room to shake. "I suppose introductions are in order. I am Odolwa, God of War, exiled by those wretched goddesses with the rest of my kin."

"Kin?" I inquired. "What do you mean, 'kin?'"

"I'm sure you've met one of my brothers already—do the words 'Bongo Bongo' ring a bell? He too was banished by that 'almighty trio.'"

At that moment, Link ran up to my side, panting. He nearly fell over when he saw Odolwa. "Wow," he gasped, "what did I miss?"

"Let me put it this way," I growled, "the adviser is a lot more than just a Deku."

"Oh dear..."

"Enough chatter!" Odolwa roared. "Introductions are over, Child of Farore! It is time for vengeance!" With a stamp of his feet, the walls surrounding us erupted into flames. The windows shattered, and the glass turned into what looked to me like abnormally large moths.

"Link, don't get distracted!" the monkey called. I turned my head, only to see a massive (and I mean massive) blade cutting through the air. He and I split up just in time to narrowly avoid Odolwa's sword, which sliced the floor we had just previously stood on like a hot knife on butter.

"Any ideas?" I called to my monkey companion on the other side of Odolwa's blade.

"Still thinking about it," the monkey prince answered. "I'll let you know when I come up with something." He jumped onto some vines wrapped around a pillar and started climbing up them.

"Why is it that when I finally need her, my stupid fairy is gone?" I groaned, rolling out of the way of another vertical slice. I would have to put all my faith into Link; I knew absolutely nothing about any Odolwa—as far as I knew, he didn't even exist in Hyrule's mythology!

As I was trying to figure out whether to stall for Link or strike out on my own, I heard a large fluttering noise behind me. The moths were attacking me! I yelped and ran. Odolwa laughed at my plight. "That's it, mortal. Run like the fool you are!" He then turned away from me and started looking above. "Hmm... Whatever happened to Prince Charming?" I think it was a little insulting that he didn't think I was a threat.

To be honest, though, what could I do? I was a Deku Scrub! All I could do was spit Deku Nuts, and I didn't have any! I was helpless, even against these crazy moths, and one false step and I'd be toasted too! "This is a nightmare!" I cried out loud.

"Hold on," Link called from above. "I think I hear something..."

"Aha!" Odolwa explained. "I have you now!" With godly strength, he raised his sword, ready to slice the Monkey Prince in half without as much as a sweat.

Suddenly, though, there was a loud bang, and light flooded in from above. Soldiers flooded in through the hole in the roof by the dozens—both Monkey and Deku. Along with them floated down a wildflower, gracefully descending with her parasol. "Darling!" she announced. "I've brought reinforcements!"

Link looked down at me with glee. "You see?" he grinned. "This is why I love her!"

Odolwa didn't know what to think. He was suddenly being swarmed by monkeys all over his body, and being blasted by Dekus standing just out of his reach. He had been prepared to fight one or two warriors, not a whole army!

We discovered very quickly though that all of this was for naught. Not a single blow laid onto Odolwa harmed him, no matter how weighed down he was. "You foolish creatures!" he screamed in wicked pleasure. "I'm a god! You petty things can't slay me! Nobody can slay a god!"

"Oh, but I can." Everybody grew silent in surprise. All eyes stared in confusion or disbelief at one person: me. I guess, no matter how dramatic it felt, it was really quite dumb. In all that was happening, all that was going on, I'd forgotten one very, very important fact. I wasn't a Deku—I was a Hylian. A Hylian who slayed a god once before. Could I have done it before the princess came to the rescue? I'm not quite sure.

Nobody could quite comprehend what happened when I removed the Deku Mask. Where a small Deku child had once stood now stood a proud Hylian swordsman. Even I was a little stunned. My Kokiri Sword was glowing just as my Master Sword would six years in the future as I stood off against the God of Death. Why it did so now, I wasn't quite sure. Perhaps, I hoped, it was the work of the goddesses.

Somehow, not even Odolwa had expected this. He struggled to back away, pleading, "No, no!" But the monkeys and Deku were smart, and they kept him locked to the floor. I advanced slowly.

"Here's a message for you, Majora," I announced to the air. "I'm not quitting until this game is over!" Without another moment to lose, I plunged my sword straight through Odolwa's neck.

-

I was all alone, on an island in a sea of misty green. Everything was so quiet and empty that my mere breath created an endless echo. I looked around, wondering what sort of place I was in. Above me there wasn't a sky, but instead another sea, with waterfalls dripping down into mine. Looking closely, something was standing on one of the sky-islands, very far away. Whoever it was, it was enormous. It was a giant, bearded, orange head, stacked on top of long, thin legs. A pair of skinny arms, as lengthy as its legs, dangled from just under its ears.

"Wh-Who are you?" I demanded.

The answer came in the form of a saddened voice, deep and melancholy, as if crying. I couldn't help but feel a little depressed myself, despite the happy situation elsewhere. "I am one of the four Giants," it (a "he") answered, "Guardians of the Forsaken World. You have released me from my imprisonment in the Mask of God Odolwa. Save the others as you have me, and we shall halt the procession of the moon."

A small scrap of paper floated out of the mist and journeyed across the water's surface to the shore of my island. Picking it up, I saw many musical notes written on it. "Sing this song atop Dotour's Clock Tower, and we shall come to meet you," the giant continued.

"But... Where can I find the other giants?" I asked, a little at a loss as to how to continue.

"They are guarded by those who serve Goddess Majora. Seek the lost souls who possess the demon masks. They will lead you to my brethren."

"You mean... Like the King's adviser?"

The giant nodded his omniscient head. "Indeed. Like the adviser to the king." The world around me began to fade. "Now go, Child of Farore. Rescue my three brothers and save this doomed land."

-

I'm not quite sure what happened. There I was, standing in a world of mist, when all of it seemed to just...fade away. There aren't really any words that could describe it—those were the best I could think of. It was a strange feeling, when it happened. I felt a cool, soothing feeling all around me, but at the same time I felt a perplexing pulling sensation in the back of my mind, as if I didn't want to go. There was something alluring about that little island. What it was exactly, though, I hadn't the slightest clue. Perhaps I had somehow been there, long ago, a little after I was born...

My eyes passed through a veil, so well-defined and ambiguous at the same time, like the line dividing water from sky. Suddenly, I was surrounded by cheering Dekus and applauding monkeys. Somebody was patting me on the back. A quick glance with my right eye revealed my hairy double. He had another huge grin on his face. For the briefest of moments, I wondered if I looked like that when I smiled.

-

That evening, the Deku and monkeys held a great banquet in honor of the Princess (who returned safely home), Link (who, as it turned out, had suggested the princess get reinforcements while passing her and Wadsworth), the king's butler (who saved the swamp from the bomb), and I. The monkeys cheered me because I vanquished a giant demon. The Deku hailed me for purifying their patron god.

Princess Anastasia made a speech, that flame-lit night. In the absence of the king, she declared the war over. Both sides made cries and yells of joy and relief, and murmurs of apologies. The only ones who didn't express pleasure were the soldiers who committed treason by working for the adviser—they were safely locked away in the Deku Prison. At the sounds of peace, Link jumped onto the table (spilling his drink on his brother) and pounded his chest, making a strange, guttural cheer I'd never heard before.

After the food, I joined Link, Anastasia, and her butler on their journey to one of the balconies I had passed going up the palace walls. "Thank you so much for your help," the princess tooted. "You may feel free to visit our kingdom any time you wish. Consider it a token of my appreciation."

"Thanks, your highness," I smiled. "I'm glad we were able to get you out of that dark temple." My smile faded. "But... What about your father? Whatever happened to him?"

"His majesty is resting in our most experienced hospital," Wadsworth answered. "I daresay he will be in there for weeks! But we came just in the nick of time, you know?" He almost put the tips of his index finger and thumb together, but stopped short. "He came this close to being lost for good."

"I hope ol' Sibiersky will be nicer when he finds out my people helped save him," Link sighed. "That guy's more racist than Mayor Dotour!"

"Link!" Anastasia snapped.

The Monkey Prince gulped. "Whoops, sorry." He looked at me with embarrassment. "I'm going to have to start warming up to the guy, now that Anastasia and I are engaged and all."

I nearly fell over. "Wait, you two are engaged? How long was I out for!?"

Link started counting off with his fingers. "Let's see...ten or so hours. I still don't understand why you fainted at all, to be completely honest."

"Maybe Lord Odolwa wanted to put up one last fight before the demon possessing him was destroyed," the princess offered.

I giggled edgily. "Yeah, something like that..."

We stepped through a flowery archway and onto the balcony. All of us gasped. Staring straight into our pupils were two bloodshot eyes, blood vessels bulging. Under the eyes were two rows of fangs, sharper than any sword I had ever seen. This wasn't some creature, though...it was the moon. A moon of enormous proportions, hanging like a phantom over a far away clock tower. I began to sweat. I'd forgotten about my time limit!

"What a peculiar moon," Anastasia said, fixated on the celestial body as if hypnotized. "I wonder why it's so big tonight?"

"Quick, somebody, what time is it!?" I demanded.

"Hm? It is thirty minutes past eleven," the Deku Butler answered.

I was about to find some excuse to leave, so that I could travel back in time before the apocalypse began, when a familiar yellow light approached us from the forest down below. "Link!" it panted, in a distinctly snotty voice.

Link's eyebrows furrowed. "Who, me?" he asked, pointing at his chest.

"No, of course not, monkey breath!" the light snapped. I knew immediately who it was: Tatl. The fairy who broke all fairy laws.

"What are you doing back here?" I growled, crossing my arms and stamping my foot firmly onto the floor. "Back from your little vacation?"

"Shut it! I've been looking everywhere for you!" At last, the fairy landed on the railing of the balcony. "Quick, before I'm cooked well-done, start playing the—"

I rushed my hand in front of her little mouth. "Now, now, Tatl," I quickly interrupted, "I know what I'm doing." I grinned nervously at my companions. The two Dekus gave me peculiar stares, like Tatl and I were out of our minds. Link the Monkey, though, was a lot more direct.

"That reminds me," he inquired, "what exactly happened back in the throne room? What happened to all your bark?"

"Well, I guess I should come clean. Remember what I was saying before, about being from another world?"

A spark of intrigue lit up in Link's eyes. "Yes, I seem to recall something of the sort. Where did you say you were from again?"

"Hyrule. And I should tell you, I'm not a Deku. I only disguised myself as one, so I could get into the kingdom and rescue you."

Wadsworth snapped his fingers in sudden realization. "Aha! I thought I recognized you from somewhere!" he exclaimed. We all looked at him with puzzlement. He pointed an index finger straight at my chest, not even caring about personal space. "Your majesties... This is the hero told of in the legend!"

I stepped backwards. "The...legend?"

Link's eyes grew wide. "Of course! The Two Masked Men! Link, I was named after you!"

"What!?" I gawked.

"It's the legend of a young masked hero, born of Goddess Farore, who comes to Termina from a make-believe land called Hylia. He arrives on the time of Termina's greatest catastrophe, and does battle with another masked man." He smiled a great, admiring smile. "I'm your biggest fan, you know. I guess that legend should be rewritten, though; they've got some parts wrong."

"I'll say," I coughed grumpily. "I'm not a god, and Hyrule is certainly not make-believe. Not to mention that Hylia is the name of a lake, not a country."

"But you did arrive during a catastrophe, and you saved us from a masked man—Lord Odolwa," Anastasia corrected. "So the most important parts are still true. And to think, I thought you were just an ordinary Deku Scrub! But...now that everything's better again, what will you do?"

"You could stay here with us," Link offered. "I'd love to hear about your other adventures!"

It hurt too much to turn him down. I just quietly nodded. They didn't realize the moon was about to kill them all. They didn't realize the catastrophe still hadn't been adverted.

The butler began fearing my two peers were storming me with information too much, and suggested we watch the moon a little. After they were absorbed in a guessing game, guessing why the moon was so big, I slipped out back through the arch with Tatl in my hand.

"You'd better be thankful that I'm forgiving you," I whispered sharply.

"Whatever!" Tatl pushed. "Just hurry up! We don't have time for any more talk!"

I nodded with a sigh. Taking one last look back at the trio, I realized how much I would miss them. It was almost like being back in the Lost Woods, except there were monkeys rather than Kokiri. But Tatl kept hurrying me, and the moon kept sinking, so I had no choice but to put my lips to the Ocarina of Time and whistle us back through time.

A Note from the Author: So, there you have it! I hope it wasn't too brutal on your brain near the end. I know things get a little corny around the battle scene.

Before you're done, I would like to express an apology to one of my reviewers from Dark Mind. The reviewer was highly anticipating a great battle between Link and Odolwa, and I feel I fell short of that. Then again, perhaps I did really well.

Anyway, thank you for taking the time to wait for this enormous story to end, and then reading through it! Reviews would be highly appreciated, especially your reactions to particular scenes. Also, if you're feeling a bit grumpy from Odolwa, feel free to let me know how to improve it. The fight isn't up to par with some of my other scenes, so I'm willing to look back after Cold Heart gets going and improve it.

Speaking of that, be sure to be on the look out for Cold Heart, where Link will have to brave the tempest tormenting the mountains at Snowhead! You can see a promotional poster for it here: .com/art/Cold-Heart-147001705

Reviews please!

...you know you liked Link the Monkey.