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Shadow of Ikana	By : cno Category: Zelda > General Views: 14711 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I don't own Legend of Zelda or any of its characters. I make zero monies off of this

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The road back to the Stone Tower was the same as he remembered: long, quiet, lonely and inexplicably cold. Link hadn’t run into a single person since peeling off from Termina Field towards the barren canyon. Not that he expected any different, but the desolate road was always disconcerting.

It hadn’t been easy to tear himself away from the ranch sisters; they were both convinced he had a serious condition and was in no place to be traveling. He didn’t have the heart to tell them that he had dealt with significantly worse. He finally managed to quell their fears by swearing to be careful and to avoid danger. They all knew it had been a lie, but hopefully the girls could sell themselves on the lie until he came back.

He stopped, and tilted his head back, looking up at the man-made wonder that was the Stone Tower. It was a titan of construction, almost a monstrosity. In all his travels, he still never met anyone who knew how or why the giant pillar had been built. Nor the origins of the temple that sat atop the structure. But, he was reminded as he felt a chill run down his spine, there was something distinctly wrong about it. The was one of the first things he noticed when he had first climbed the tower those years ago: the place radiated mal-intent and evil.

Link was used to evil: he had been exposed to it countless times. But the evil in the Great Deku Tree or the Water Temple or Snowhead were small, contained. Parasites crawling around, trying to strangle whatever life they could find. But here? It oozed out of the stones. It penetrated the air. It enveloped everything around it. He could almost feel it soaking through his skin and swimming in his blood.

He had hoped he would never have to return to this place.

With grim resolve, he pulled out his long-shot and aimed it at one of the higher platforms that had been otherwise out of his reach on his last visit. The spring-coiled spear fired up with a familiar ring before planting into the rock and pulling him up towards the sky. He repeated the action until he was pulling himself up onto the ledge across from the entrance to the temple. He swung his leg up over the lip, and raised his eyes at his surroundings.

In front of him was a small statue, not much more than 5 feet tall. His heart nearly stopped instantly as he recognized the figure. It was his soulless statue. It was staring at him, its face twisted in a mockery of a smile, showing no emotion but apathy. Its artificial eyes stared outwards, not truly seeing anything, yet somehow he knew that it was looking at him. Once he got past the initial shock, he cautiously approached the statue. It was exactly the same as he remembered, down to every horrifying detail. Had it just been sitting here all this time? Immune to the decay of time?

He shivered. He had always hated all the soulless golems he had been forced to use to climb the tower originally. They had always struck him as distinctly wrong, but this one was by far the worst of the bunch. Seeing as he no longer needed its assistance to reach his goal, he pushed it until it fell backwards and stared up at the sky with the same empty expression. Resisting the urge to shiver again, he turned back and aimed his hookshot towards the entrance of the temple.

~~~

Nothing. There was nothing here. He looked around at the empty sand that seemed to stretch endlessly. A weak breeze fell across his back, but from where it came from, he could not say. He sighed, running his fingers through his hair. He could still feel it. The evil. The same feeling he had when he was here last time. But there was no manifestation of it. Despite the constant threat in his mind, and the chill running down his spine, he was calm. More at peace than he had been in a long time. If something was going to attack him, he was ready.

But nothing did.

After waiting far longer than was necessary, he finally activated the magic spell called Farore’s Wind in Hyrule, and black magic everywhere else, and teleported back to the entrance of the temple. He couldn’t understand it. His dreams were telling him there was danger approaching. And every fiber of his being told him that there was evil here. But something didn’t add up. There was nothing here. Literally. Not even Garo. Not even skulltulas. Nothing. It was lifeless. It was even more dead and devoid of life than Ikana.

He exited the temple feeling lost. He descended the tower again almost mindlessly, so preoccupied than he didn’t even notice the statue of his younger self standing upright, watching his descent.

~~~

Link stopped in his tracks as he neared the entrance to Termina Field. “There’s nothing else around, you can’t sneak up on me.” A familiar annoying laugh cut the air. “Apologies.” The Happy Mask Saleman said, his unsettling smile still on his face. “I was just surprised. What are the odds that we should return to this place, at the same time?” Link turned to face him. “I don’t know. I assumed I would never see you again.” His eyes narrowed. “I’m disappointed that I was wrong.”

The salesman laughed. “Is that the attitude to have of someone who did nothing but help you? To turn you back to yourself and help you save a doomed land?” He rubbed his hands together in what seemed to be a habit. “If I remember, that was all your fault in the first place.” The salesman suddenly grew very serious. “The evil of Majora’s Mask was more than could be contained by any force of nature. Horrifying consequences were inevitable, and I believe you know that. But luckily.” His carefree tone returned. “Thanks to me, you were able to end it.”

“You know...” Link started as he processed the saleman’s words. “You never did tell me how you came to acquire that mask.” There was an awkward silence. “I believe you already know the answer to that.”

“The Temple. It was in the Temple, and you took it out.” His tone wasn’t accusatory, simply firm. “You make it sound so evil. But no, I didn’t take it from the Temple. One of Ikana’s last living residents did. I simply attempted to dispose of it for him. Unfortunately we both underestimated that mask.”

“...That desert. That was supposed to be the Mask’s resting place.” Link said slowly, thoughts churning in his head. “I would think prison would be the more accurate term, but yes.”

“And the mask, it...turned Ikana into...”

“What it is now?” Link nodded. “Yes. The history of that mask was marred by people not truly understanding it. Its influence stretched further than anyone expected, and over time, it poisoned the temple, then the tower, then eventually all of Ikana.” Seeing the look on Link’s face, the man nodded and continued. “And yes, it probably would have eventually reached the rest of Termina. But Marneus saw the inevitable, and tried to stop it. Unfortunately, he did not live to see his mission completed.”

“Is it though?” Link asked quietly, more to himself than anyone else. “Why, of course it is. The Mask and the spirit have been destroyed. Ikana was of course beyond saving, but thanks to you and I, the rest of Termina is free.” The man turned his head and looked at Link closely. “I know more about you than you think. I know your travels, what you’ve been through. But you have to believe me, your battles are done. You need to learn how to be someone other than a hero. You can’t fight forever. Especially when there are no more enemies to be found. Because then there’s no one left but yourself.”
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Shadow of Ikana