To the Moon and Back: One Account of the Journey Through Termina During the Carnival of Time, Undertaken by the Heroes of Time in their Present Youth; Told from Perspective by One Timbre Firral(and others, where appropriate). Translated from the Original Lupine by One Kasumi Magmus.
Disclaimer: I do not own Zelda.
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And then we were eight again. Heh, it was funny that I should reach this particular part now, because Ty and Nick just came back today, all the way from – wherever it was they went. Come to think of it, they didn't say where they went. I think they were a bit confused, though, at seeing me sprawled all over Impa's roof with parchments everywhere.
So, I like to feel the sun on my back – nothing bad about that.
Still, I wish I could go…somewhere, too.
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Part 6: The Carnival of Time
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We spent a good deal of the next day exploring the town, and making preparations. Needless to say, we ran out of things to do after a while.
We discovered quite early on that none of the guards were going to let us out any of the gates, no matter how much we tried to explain that we could take care of ourselves.
I guess I shouldn't be too surprised. Even as humans (or whatever) we had trouble being taken seriously because of our age. Being young and Dekus though, made this problem increase tenfold. But it's kind of like what Kat touched upon a bit earlier – there was definitely some tension going on between all the different tribes. I can understand that, it's like having a strange pack intruding on your home territory – you can't exactly be openly hostile in case they're stronger than you. Instead you put up barriers and hope they just get fed up and leave you alone instead.
Either way, the most we could get the guards to do was chuckle condescendingly at how cute and precocious we all were. That was rather frustrating for me, and I stifled the urge to kick them in the shins. It wouldn't have done much, though, as they were wearing armor.
It rained all the second day, but it wasn't a very unpleasant rain. In fact, I didn't really mind getting wet at all. It actually felt rather refreshing. Everyone else seemed to think so as well, oddly enough.
Odder still were the rumors floating about town. The moon I had seen through the telescope seemed to be looming closer all the time, and some people thought it was destined to fall on Clock Town.
But if that were really the case, I thought, people would be hurrying to leave.
At least, that's what I kept telling myself.
Tatl seemed especially concerned about the moon, I kept catching her angled up towards it at odd moments, muttering to herself. I had a feeling she knew something we didn't.
That night, while in North Clock Town, we asked Kafei about a place to sleep. As nice as the Observatory was, staying again would be a bit overstaying the welcome.
"So, your folks have a big house, right?" Link stretched and leaned against the wall near the Great Fairy's Fountain.
"Er…yes…" Kafei stared directly at the ground, tapping his boots with a stick. "Maybe we should stay there tonight."
Kafei obviously didn't like this. "I dunno if that's such a good idea…"
"Why not? If you explain to them-"
"Guh-" Kafei's speech suddenly became heated and sarcastic. "Yes, Link, I'm sure they'll understand perfectly. They'll say, 'Oh dear, son, you seem to have been cursed. Oh well, that's fine, we'll just plant you in the garden!'" He slumped moodily. "It doesn't work that way, y'know."
"Hey, I just thought your parents-"
"You've never had parents Link. Quit acting like you know what it's like having them. We're not going to my house. Not when we're like this. Not when I'm like this."
There was a sudden, awkward, frosty silence. It might have just been the circumstances getting to us, but everyone's patience seemed to be wearing thin. Hackles were raised, and there were a lot of angry feelings floating around.
I recognized those angry feelings all too well, as it was exactly the type of attitude I often adopted back them. Maybe it was for the better that I couldn't talk, at least I couldn't add to the problem.
The Clock Tower's bell rang six times.
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NIGHT OF THE SECOND DAY: 36 HOURS REMAIN
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Eventually, Kafei came out of his temper and thought up a better idea – he knew a family that ran a local inn, and he was sure we would be able to get a room for the night. The Stock Pot Inn – a place I can recommend, at least now since they've remodeled – is located in East Clock Town. It's run by Kafei's now sister-in-law Anju, though back then she was still unmarried.
Wow that last sentence was confusing…
However, even I realized something was wrong when we all tumbled in there out of the rain. Anju looked over at us, but her eyes were angled oddly.
Humans make that kind of face when they're very sad.
"H-hello," Kafei said carefully, not sure if he'd be recognized.
Anju looked at him, and bowed. "Welcome to the Stock Pot Inn. Are you…all here on a field trip? Where is your chaperone?"
Kafei looked somewhat relived that she didn't recognize him. "W-we were told to get a room," he finally stammered.
"Oh!" Anju's sad face became even sadder. "I'm sorry.
We're totally booked with reservations. Please tell that to your chaperone."
I'm guessing our expressions fell a bit, because Anju spoke again. "I'm sorry, I really am. But we are not a very large Inn yet, and our largest rooms are-" She suddenly looked at Kafei very curiously. "That mask you have…"
"Oh?" Kafei put a paw to the Keaton mask still balanced on top of his head.
"That mask…how nostalgic," she said quietly. Then she bowed. "I'm sorry. Please do consider our Inn next year, though."
We thanked her and left, but Kafei seemed almost relieved to be out in the rain again. I looked at him questioningly, and he sighed.
"She's my older brother's girlfriend," he explained. "But I've never seen her so gloomy before."
"Maybe they've had a row," Kat offered.
"Maybe," Kafei looked back at the door. "For a second there, I thought she might recognize me. Ah, I'm sorry everyone, I thought we might at least have a dry place to stay tonight."
"Ah, no worries," Sond said cheerfully. This was quite kind of her – out of all of us she disliked the rain the most. "Maybe…the Laundry Pool has that big tree, maybe that would work?"
It was worth a shot, and so we all waddled (and squelched) our way towards South Clock Town. But nobody was in a real hurry despite the rain.
As we passed the Clock Tower, Link spoke for the first time since Kafei had told him off. "We'd better think of a way to get up there too," he said, pointing at the tower. "Cause otherwise all of this will have been for nothing.
I nodded. It was going to be hard though, getting up there. There was a small ledge halfway up that would prove helpful, but Dekus couldn't climb very well, and the tower was rather tall. Maybe if we climbed up on one another, one or two of us might make it to the ledge, but that would leave the rest of us still stuck on the ground.
Maybe if we got a rope…
I racked my brain all the way to the Laundry Pool, when a sudden burst of song broke me out of that stupor. It's funny how some songs just get stuck in your head forever…
Go around, go around,
Water falling on the ground,
Watch me turn and sing,
Like the windmill's wing…
It was a man, sitting on a wooden bench by the water. In his lap he held an old-fashioned music box of a kind I'd seen once before in Hyrule. He was turning its crank and singing along to the music it played with a distant look in his eyes.
Link sighed. "Well, here's the tree. I guess we can't really complain if there's other people here, it's a public place."
Sond was humming along to the song. "Doo doo doo…doo doo doo…say, doesn't the song sound a bit, familiar?"
We all paused. "Yeah," Chiron finally said. "It's that song that always reminds me of the rain…that guy in the windmill at Kakariko Village always played it-"
We all turned and looked at the man again. He did bear a striking resemblance to that windmill man. "Huh," Link said. "It's kind of creepy…a lot of people here are just so almost-familiar. That guy. Anju-"
The man interrupted Link's train of thought. "La-la-la…they said I was much too loud when I practiced in my room. They got mad. Now I'm sad. I'll just stay here all night away from my pad."
"Do you mind?" Chiron asked sharply. "You're not the only one here."
"Ah, my apologies," said the man sadly. "Maybe if I thought about the past to get my mind off the bad."
"Well, could you do it quietly?" Chiron snapped.
If the man heard Chiron, he didn't react. "Dear guest…Long ago, I was in an animal troupe, with dogs and donkeys and such…why, do you ask, could a man join an animal troupe? Well, because man is an animal too, of course!"
I stared. This man was clearly slightly mad, though his logic did have a point. Humans are silly, and often use the term 'animal' as an insult. I never understood. Of course humans are animals. What do they think they are otherwise? Plants?
Heh, well, maybe at the moment we were...
The man's music box continued its song.
If the moon, were to fall,
Would the water come at all?
Dooming flames are nigh,
Light the morning sky…
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We spent that second night at the Laundry Pool, listening to the man's song until we fell asleep. My dreams were filled with fire, and yet I couldn't find the energy to be scared. It's funny how you just can't help but be calm before a catastrophe.
And a catastrophe seemed exactly what was in store.
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DAWN OF THE FINAL DAY: 24 HOURS REMAIN
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A Cucco crowed under an overcast sky, the shadow of the moon a looming threat that just couldn't be ignored.
"The moon's really going to fall today, isn't it?" Chiron said apathetically, and we all turned our gazes upward. It certainly seemed like it was, and oddly, it didn't feel quite as alarming as it should that it was.
"I didn't believe he really meant it," Tatl was thinking aloud. "But now…"
"That Mask Salesman knew about this happening, I know it!" Link swore. "So we'd be the ones in danger and he'd hide away in that tower, ready to run-"
"And we can't do anything about it," Sond sighed. "There's no way to get up that Tower…"
"To think a Skull Kid could lay us this low," Kafei said glumly.
I shivered all of a sudden. Was the Skull Kid really the one behind all of this? Somehow it didn't seem possible that one imp could make such a thing happen. The whole world seemed wrong today, not just the moon. Things just seemed so…hopeless. Even as we walked through South Clock Town, the people walking about their daily lives seemed utterly hypnotized. Either they could not see their impending doom, or they simply did not care.
Something was terribly awry about all of this, I thought. As I became reflective, I didn't notice that I was wandering away from the group slightly. Considering my misfortune two days before, this probably wasn't smart of me.
I collided with something at the same moment that Sond called, "Tim, watch out!"
BONK. I promptly fell on my backside. I kept forgetting how small and light I was…
"Hey, you can't use this flower, it's my personal property!" Cringing, I looked up at the Business Scrub I'd managed to collide with. He was chittering at me in the very rapid Deku Scrub language, which to my surprise I found I could understand perfectly.
Kas, if I'd known who he was at the time, would've probably been jealous.
"Well, young one, what do you have to say for yourself!"
I couldn't exactly answer him, but again my friends came to the rescue. "Sorry sir," I heard Kat stammer, "he didn't see you-"
The Business Scrub didn't seem to hear her though. He was staring at me instead. "Boy…where, where did you get that?"
The Moon's Tear, which I had been carrying in my pocket, had fallen with me. It now lay sparkling on the cobblestone pavement.
"I would trade anything, anything, if you would let me have that stone," he breathed. "Even this prized property of mine."
"What's so special about it?" Link asked.
"It is only the location of the only Golden Flower in Clock Town!" The Business Scrub snapped. "Scrubs like me would give their last leaves for it! Don't you realize how high you can fly with a Golden Flower? You could even reach the Clock Tower with one jump!"
We all stared at him, and he mistook our astonishment for envy.
"I know! Is it not worth your pretty stone?"
I sat there in wonderment. The Moon's Tear…although I was loathe to part with it…it meant the opportunity to confront the Skull Kid…I couldn't let my friends down, not after what they'd done for me.
With a slight ache in my heart, I gave him my Moon's Tear. The delighted Business Scrub gave me the deed to the Golden Flower, then flew off with a squeaky but triumphant laugh.
There was silence.
"Wow," Kafei said finally, "That was brilliant."
If I could have smiled, I think I would have.
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NIGHT OF THE FINAL DAY: 12 HOURS REMAIN
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"I really don't like this," Tatl murmured. She'd been quite stoic the entire day, spending most of her time hidden away in Link's hat. I suppose we were all a little glad that she wasn't her usual snarky self, but it made the mood of the town even gloomier.
The ground had started to rumble late in the morning, and the small earthquakes were beginning to increase in both duration and intensity. I stared upwards to be greeted by a glowering moon that seemed to take up the whole sky.
"Squeak," I said unhappily. Was I destined to die in such a state?
All of us sat at the entrance to the Clock Tower, legs dangling over the ledge as we waited for the entrance to open.
"But what if the Skull Kid is gone?" Kafei said, fretting. "Then we would have come all this way for nothing."
"It's all we've got," Link answered. "And the sooner we get what he took from us, the sooner we can get out of here."
"Get out of here?" Kafei blinked. "You mean escape? How can we escape that?" He gestured at the sky. "That's not something that only affects a small area, you know. Termina will be completely destroyed! And how do we get back to Hyrule, fly?"
"Besides," Sond said miserably, "Even if did manage to escape, all those people down there – they'll die."
"Maybe if we do defeat the Skull Kid the moon will stop," Chiron offered, though he didn't sound like he really believed himself.
I let myself fall backwards and closed my eyes so I wouldn't have to stare at the moon's leering face. All this doom and gloom, it was affecting even us now. It was in the air, this hopelessness, this despair, and we could do nothing but breathe it in.
Grandma, I thought miserably, if you could see your grandson now, what would you think of him?
She'd think he was feeling awfully sorry for himself, came the answer. Despairing…when has that ever helped anyone? Even when all else seems lost, there's always hope that what will come might fall in your favor…
Though the only thing that seems to be falling is the moon…
With that thought, I felt myself doze off.
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BOOM. BOOM.
I sat up with a shriek, thinking the moon had fallen on us all while I was asleep. My friends, similarly jerked awake into disorientation, made me realize that we were still very much alive. The ground was rumbling, though.
"Look, fireworks!" Kafei said, pointing into the darkness. "My parents always get some this time of year for the town."
At that point in my life I had never seen fireworks before, and I stared, mesmerized. They were like miniature bursts of the aurora from back home, which made me feel a pang of homesickness.
"C'mon Tim, stop daydreaming and get over here!" I looked over and found the source of the rumble – the doorway to the Clock Tower's summit had opened into a rather foreboding staircase. My friends were already halfway up them.
"Not too much time left before it hits now…" I heard Kafei mutter.
The Clock Tower opens every year at midnight to mark the beginning of the Carnival of Time. The very face of the clock slides skywards, forming a platform on which people can stand. If the moon hadn't been blocking the sky, it would have been the perfect place to stargaze. I guessed that normally there would be crowds and crowds of people lining up to go here for that exact reason, but not this night.
I don't think they could have come if they had wanted to. Even we seemed to climb the Tower's stairs in slow motion, as if the gloomy mood were physically pushing us away.
Then Tatl's shriek cut through the night.
"TAEL!"
It was indeed her brother, slowly orbiting the masked face of the Skull Kid hovering many meters above us. In one paw the imp was slowly tossing a familiar blue object.
"My Ocarina!" Link yelled almost as piercingly as Tatl had. Dekus can really get onto those high registers, I thought, cringing.
Link's statement of the obvious didn't seem to faze the Skull Kid at all. He didn't even seem to notice us. Then Tael flew forward, a violet ball barely discernable from the night sky.
"Swamp. Mountain. Ocean. Canyon. The Four who are there…bring them here!"
The Skull Kid jerked at this and glared at Tael. "Stupid fairy! Don't talk out of line! Begone!" His arm lashed out, slapping Tael out of the way. As the fairy cartwheeled out of control, he suddenly vanished in midair.
"What did you do to my brother!" Tatl screamed.
It was only then that Skull Kid seemed to notice us. "Ehehe! Seems I have company this fine night! Come to watch your doom personally?"
"Give us our stuff back!" Sond yelled.
"Hah! If you'd wanted it so badly, why'd you let me take it in the first place? Besides," the Skull Kid went on, his chilling second voice coming to the surface, "it isn't like you'll be needing those things in the next world…" His gaze turned up towards the moon, which was so close now it threatened to engulf the entire sky.
"Dumb fairy shooting his mouth off," he rumbled to himself. "But no matter. Even if they were to come now, they wouldn't be able to handle me. Hah."
"Then I guess we'll have to do. Don't you dare underestimate us!" Link called up challengingly to the imp.
Skull Kid stared him down. "Your efforts are pointless. Just look above you. If it's something to be stopped, then try and stop it!" Arching his back, he gave voice to a terrible scream. Waves of sickly purple energy flickered about like ghost flames, and the ground began to shake again.
"He's calling the moon down!" Chiron yelled. "We haven't got much time!"
"What are we supposed to do, run?" Kat snapped back at him. "There isn't anywhere to go!"
"I dunno about you, but I'm getting my Ocarina back," Link said calmly, without raising his voice. It's kind of creepy how serious he gets sometimes. He'll act like a real idiot sometimes, but when it really counts, he suddenly gets very quiet and solemn. And somehow, at that moment, it was very comforting to see him like that. Whenever he got serious, things just always seemed to pull through, no matter how bad.
"There's no point in getting that old thing back now!" Tatl snapped. From the tone of her voice it sounded like she was on the verge of tears. "Tael…he's gone, we're helpless-"
"I'm getting it back," Link repeated. "If it's the last thing I do. I promised to keep it safe, and I'm not going to die with any broken promise, understand?"
Tatl seemed stunned. "How?" she finally said. "There's no way to get at him when he's flying!"
"If only I had my arrows," Sond muttered. "Or if we had something that shot from a long distance."
Tatl froze in mid-flight, then recovered her equilibrium before she fell to the ground. "Duh! Of course! How could I be so stupid! There is a way!"
"What- why didn't you say something before?" Link snapped, still serious but somewhat exasperated with the fairy.
"I…I forgot, that's all…but whatever! Dekus can shoot concentrated bubbles using Magic Power-"
Suddenly what had happened down in the sewer with the Skulltulla made more sense. How had I done that before? I'd sneezed-
I forced a sneeze, hoping for the best, and another one of those bubbles came with it. It hovered in the air a moment before bursting with a flash of light.
"There, see, like that!" Tatl said. "But aim higher!"
Kat was a resourceful type, and instead of demanding me give an explanation she knew I couldn't offer, she just tried it herself. Her bubble was much more impressive, and made a much bigger flash of light when it burst.
Link caught on nearly as quickly as Kat did, though he instead took Tatl's advice and aimed his bubble at the Skull Kid. Smart move. The imp was too busy staring at the moon falling on us to notice, and the bubble struck home. Skull Kid jerked backwards, as if stunned.
"Why you-"
"Hit him again!" Tatl yelled.
Link tried it again, but this time the Skull Kid wasn't fooled. He slapped the bubble away like he had Tael. "Hah. That won't do any good, fool. You'll have to do better than-argh!"
Another bubble had hit him from behind.
"He can't deflect from every angle at once!" I heard Kafei call out. "Everyone shoot him at once!"
At that point it became a bit of a free for all, as the imp was suddenly bombarded from many sides with bubbles. I do have to admit that it was kind of gratifying; after all he'd put us through he certainly deserved what he got. The Skull Kid was slowly brought down to the ground. And with him came the instruments.
Link snatched up his Ocarina at once. "Got it!"
As everyone was reunited with their precious items, I suddenly realized that the air seemed too hot. The ground was rumbling. I stared frantically upwards. I heard someone cry out my thoughts, "Guys, the moon's still falling!"
"Tim, you can talk again!" Sond whooped.
I stopped, realizing the voice I heard was indeed my own. "I…I…t-that's not important though!" I tried to keep my elation internal, as there were more important things at the moment. "The moon hasn't stopped!"
"But of course," said a smooth voice. "Did you think just knocking me down would stop something like that?" The Skull Kid lifted off of the ground like a limp dummy. It wasn't for the last time that I got the distinct impression that it was the mask speaking. "You children may have got your trinkets back, but it matters not. You will die, you've run out of time."
The moon was encircled with a ring of flames – the air began to shimmer from the heat, and I felt an instinctual panic. Deku Scrubs are terribly afraid of fire.
"Somebody! Anybody! Goddess of Time, help us, please! We need more time!" Tatl swore to the heavens.
More time…in Hyrule Castle Town there is a temple where the Master Sword sleeps, a place where a song echoes through the ageless stones themselves…it was there that Link had once played a song taught to him by the Princess of Hyrule-
How had that song gone, again?
Link caught my eye, and without a word, I realized that the same thought had been awakened in his mind. Wolves often speak without making a sound, but it was the first time I'd ever seen a human do it so effectively. I need to play the Song of Time.
Link nodded once and brought the Ocarina up.
It glowed in his grip, and transformed itself into a quintet of horns.
"Hey," Chiron said, hanging onto his guitar for dear life. "What's with the tuba?"
"That's not a tuba," Tatl snapped. "Can't you see those are Deku Pipes? And how is that going to help, anyway? We're doomed!"
Link didn't answer her, instead a song, impossibly loud, echoed out from those pipes. The world seemed to slow as the music of the Temple of Time echoed through the night air.
The last thing I saw was the moon's face grinning at me. The last thing I felt was the air beginning to turn to fire-
The ground fell out from beneath me, and as all turned to white and the rumbling faded away, I thought I heard a voice.
"The Goddess of Time is protecting you…"
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