Chapter 15
I hold Zelda's harp, silently crying. The
world roars with fire and whistles with falling stars.
With shaking hands, I take the broken
string. I pull it taught and mend it, just to do something...something normal.
I hum aimlessly, cradling the last piece of her, the sound echoing painfully in
my empty chest.
I touch the strings. They sob under my
fingers. Fi hasn't spoken. The Master Sword remains cold and dead, the light
having gone out.
I begin to play a forgotten song. It is
solemn and pondering, like the gradual flow of time. I pause, fighting the
tears welling up inside me. Angry I strum the tune backwards, marring it with
every stroke. I throw the harp down and cover my face. I scream into them, long
and hard until my ribs almost break from the pressure.
The wind breezes over my carcass. I am
ready to die. The wind picks up suddenly, pushing me, tugging me. I look up. I
wipe my eyes. The ash is rising into the sky, the falling stars streak
backwards, and the wall of fire reseeds painting the sky blue again. I fall to
my knees as I watch the sun fly from west to east, three times before it slows
at the horizon of dawn. All is calm, all is new and fresh and bright. My wounds
have been sealed. I am feeling alive and full of hope despite my terror.
"Fi?" I call.
"Master!" she flips out of the
sword. It now glows with its former power. "Master, you reversed time!
Zelda is no longer dead! We now have three days until the moon falls."
"I did what?" I ask.
"The harp." Fi points with her
foot. "It is Hylia's creation instrument. You tapped into the song that
controls the essence of time. In playing it backwards you reversed us back
three days."
I remember, some time ago, playing a
little Ocarina at the top of a tower, beneath the glaring eyes of Majora and
the falling moon. That little instrument was a piece of the heavens too and its
fibres connected directly to creation as did this harp. Hylia has given me a
second chance without even knowing it.
"That's more than enough time to
stop Vaati from kidnapping Zelda!" I say. "We can even steal the
Majora's Mask from Ghirahim and prevent the moon from falling at all!" I
am bright with relief and joy. I want to dance. But that would be weird.
"As much as I like that idea, we
cannot do that." Fi says.
"Why not?" I ask.
"Because, if we return to Hyrule's
shores there may be a chance that we could run into our past selves. We cannot
risk such a thing because it could potentially unravel the universe. No, there
is better way." Fi hovers close to me. "We must go to Termina and
awaken the four giants. They will take care of the moon and help us save Zelda.
As for Majora, you must wear the Fierce Deity Mask."
"So essentially you are asking me to
abandon Zelda to go wake up some giants?" I ask.
"Believe me, Master, you will be
thanking me soon." Fi says.
I look longingly in the direction of Hyrule.
Instead I turn south in toward Termina.
***
I had to build a raft, but the voyage was
short. I arrived at a lonely beach. The Great Bay
is empty and quiet. The pirate fortress sits in a cove to the west. There is
one house on this beach. It all seems very familiar. Of course it is. I was
here many centuries ago, in another life. I pass a man, sitting under a hide
covering, his wears out on display. I stop a moment. He is smiling at me. Masks
of all colours and shapes are piled all round him neatly. There are three masks
that catch my attention. One is the face of a Zora, another a Goron and the
last a Deku. They are hanging in the back as if forgotten.
"Come, come choose a mask, any
mask!" the man beckons, beside himself with excitement. I don't exactly
trust him. He makes me feel weird and he moves sporadically. "The Festival
is near!"
"Master," comes Fi's voice in
my head. "I'm detecting that these masks have transformation properties. I
suggest we take them, they might be useful."
"Not the Deku." I mutter. Who
would want to turn into an embarrassing little wooden creature with a trumpet
snout?
"I never said take that one."
Fi says. I snort.
"Yes?" the man leans forward,
smiling brightly.
"Uh..." to be honest I'm a
little appalled. Is his face stuck that way? "How much for the Zora and
Goron masks?"
His eyes light up.
"Oh are you sure those are the ones
you want? You may get more than you bargained for!"
"That I already have." I say,
"How much?"
"They are already yours." he
says in a low voice that chills me. With that he hands them to me.
I lift them, feeling a tingling in my
fingers. I know these masks...and the people they once were. The Zora, died in
my arms when I was a boy. And the Goron's ghost haunted me until I healed his
soul with a song.
"Do you by any chance, own the
Fierce Deity Mask?" I ask him. His face suddenly goes solemn.
"The one in the canyon swallowed its
evil. Not you nor I will ever get our hands on its radiance."
I hurry away from the place. I feel the
happy mask salesman's eyes on my back as I go. I step through a passage into a
vast moor. It's strange recognizing a land that I have never been to. There is
a city nestled in the center with a clock tower that reaches the sky: Clock Town.
"So where are these giants?" I
ask, my past life too far away to recall. Fi sighs.
"Let's ask around. I'm sure there
are people that know the legend."
***
Inside the city, tents of all colours
litter the streets. People trade furs, handcrafted weapons and food. It reminds
me of my home. A pain rises in my throat and I swallow to keep it at bay.
"You there!" Calls a woman.
"With the golden harp." I stop realizing that's me. I turn to see a
woman under a pavilion, her face hidden with a scarf and her legs crossed. A
crystal orb sits in front of her. "I sense a great destiny for you, come
listen to your future. Ten rupees and your secrets will be revealed!"
I turn to leave.
"You received that harp from my
mother." This stops me. "In Kakariko, my home village under the
protection of Eldin." I turn to her. Her eyes are smiling.
"Who are you?" I ask.
"Impa." She raises her wrist. A
purple wrist guard woven into a Celtic design around the Triforce, gleams with
its own light. In another life, my Zelda wore this, and my Zelda gave it to her
guardian.
"Impa!" I kneel before her.
"Are you...? Did you-?"
She touches my hand.
"My name has been passed down
through my family for centuries. It has been my family's fate to take care of
the Goddess incarnate: Zelda and her chosen hero...which must be you."
I feel a little sadness, wishing this was
that same Impa, just so that I would feel less alone in this strange world.
"I need your help." I say.
"I am looking for the giants."
"The giants?" She sounds
intrigued. "There is an old legend about the guardians of the four
regions, built in the most ancient times to protect our land. It says there is
a song that will call them to your aid, but they are sleeping. You must go to
them and awaken them yourself." She says. "One lives in the northern
mountain, one in the southern swamp, another in the western bay and the last in
the eastern canyons. Find their hearts and activate them with sacrificial
blood."
"Sounds morbid." I say.
"Their energy attracts many monsters,
their blood will suffice." Impa says. I nod. I am ready.