Chapter 2 - Future Echoes
Link looked at his reflection one last time in the mirror, and fixed his
own blue-eyed stare in the glass. Almost unconsciously, he reached up to
his face, and traced the lines where red-and-blue stripes had once seared
his features... He could almost imagine that the colours showed again for
a second as he visualised where they once were, but the illusion vanished
quickly. Feeling slightly sick, he shoved the mask into a pocket. He didn't
want to take it, but he knew he couldn't leave it lying around...
Finally, he secured the sword over his back and looked around. "You're sure
you want to do this, aren't you?"
Alena, dressed more like a Sheikah warrior than the quiet girl Link knew,
with a knife by her side and an eye-shaped pendant, nodded. "Of course I
am. Stop asking me!" she grinned.
He led the way down the stairs and out of the house. Darris - Link had to
stop himself thinking "Rauru" for a second - was waiting, an angry look on
his face that Link had never really associated with it. "So. It comes to
this, does it? You pretend so long to be something you're not... damn it,
I should have known what you were the second I laid eyes on you! It all makes
sense! And you too, girl... going off to follow your deceitful mother! Well,
walk through that door, and you're not coming back! Understand?"
She closed her eyes. "Yes. I understand. Father."
The older man turned back to Link. "Go. Go away. Pretender. Deceiver. Leave
my house now, dieu vengeur..." Link didn't understand the words in
an ancient tongue, but he understood their meaning - and it hurt him. But
he kept on a brave face. Just another sort of mask, really. That of the
hero.
"Fine. I will go." He paused. "I can forgive you for forcing me out. I can
but hope that you will forgive me some day for whatever wrongs you think
I have done you..." His words were steel-edged and sword-sharp.
Darris turned his back. "It is not what you have done - but what you will
do to me. And for that there will be no apologising."
Link looked to Alena, who nodded back at him.
Together, they walked out of the door, and back to the past.
Clock Town was quiet, as they crossed the square. After calling on various market stalls to get supplies - there had been no opportunity to pack food - they headed for the doorway in the tower. Link put his hand on the door, to push it open -
-there-
A sensation of falling, of being blown away by some ethereal gale, and he
found himself...
Where?
A wasteland! Empty, burnt, desolate. Absolutely lifeless - not a person,
not a tree, not even a monster to be seen. A crater. Yet - still familiar.
He looked around, surveying the scene.
Link slowly realised to his horror what he was seeing...
"Farore..." he whispered. "This is Termina, isn't it?" But not the land he
had known as a home for the last two years. This was a world racked by the
most terrible fate.
In this world, the moon had fallen down... Majora had finished the job.
But how could that be? It was impossible! He'd struggled, he'd fought so
hard, and he'd saved the day...
Even at the price of my own spirit... he thought.
But despite being impossible, there was no denying what he saw.
He began to explore the ruins of the town, as the sun moved slowly through
a sky blood-red with dust. Nothing remained of what had been a thriving
civilization, not even rubble...
"How... how could this happen?" Link continued to talk to himself, to dispel
the absolute and eerie silence. "I mean... I couldn't have... no!"
His wandering continued. Would he... could he... find a way back? There was
no way he could spend an eternity here, no way he could survive in a ruined
world...
But there is, isn't there? whispered treacherous thoughts in the back
of his mind. You can survive... go back to how you were, and you can survive
anything... Who you once were would revel in the chaos...
"Never!" Link yelled, into an empty and silent sky. "Don't think I'll ever
go back! I'll never put the mask on again!"
Never is such a strong word... Perhaps this world is how it is, because
twelve years ago you thought just that... you refused your fate, refused
the powers inside, and couldn't destroy the demon...
He looked up into the dust-seared heavens. Anything was better than looking
at the ruined lands around him. A future of desolation? Was that what was
left? Vividly, he visualised the Clock Town he knew. Busy, bustling... the
clock on the tower ticking its way from past to future... Alena waiting for
him - would she wait forever?... He closed his eyes, to block out the
ruins. A wind began to whip around his feet - no, this wasn't the usual sort
of wind, he was sure...
Link opened his eyes again, to see a dead world fading...
-here-
...and a live one reappearing. He shook his head and looked around him. Had
he ever seen something so beautiful? Life, activity...
But a land he could no longer be part of.
"Link? What - what happened? You just... vanished! Where did you go?"
He snapped round, to see amazement written in Alena's eyes. "I can't explain
how, but - I was in another world. Another Termina. One where... I didn't
stop the moon in time..."
Her hand shot to her mouth. "For the love of... but that's impossible!"
"That's what I thought. But - it's what happened. It was terrible..." Link
whispered, eyes downcast. "How long was I gone for?"
"Oh..." She looked up at the clock. "A few minutes."
"It seemed longer... I'm sure I saw the sun set while I was there..."
"You gave me a real shock, you know that? One minute you're there, the next
- whoosh, you've gone." She smiled. "But you're back now, and that's what
matters. What are we waiting for?"
Link nodded, and pushed at the door. This time, it opened, to a maze of ancient
waterwheels and rushing streams. For all that it had been a long time since
he'd come through the strange, hidden domains between two worlds, Link still
remembered the way perfectly. Or perhaps remembered wasn't quite the right
word...
He couldn't have put words to it, but there was another sense at work in
his mind. One that knew exactly where Hyrule was, where Termina was, and
how the two connected. Something he'd never experienced before, something
he couldn't have imagined. He'd heard that some birds navigated using a compass
in their minds. Perhaps this was how they felt, Link wondered... But how
could this happen to him? What was this feeling? Some left over echo of disowned
powers? I spent ten years like that. Maybe I shouldn't be surprised, if
this is some relic of my fierce days... As I remember it, the Deity was never
lost. But I'm no longer him, so why?
Through it all, Alena followed silently, overawed. Occasionally, she had
to pinch herself to remind herself that she wasn't dreaming, that she was
really leaving the world she'd known all her life. Yet, at the same time,
she found herself beginning to enjoy the journey. There were things here
she'd never imagined. Heck, I'd never even known what was beyond the door
in the tower. This is incredible...
Eventually, after a long and tiring climb, they found themselves looking
out into a deep, dark forest. Almost inaudibly, Link whispered "Home..."
He turned round to see Alena's eyes open wide with surprise. He smiled. "Welcome
to another world."
-
"You let the boy get away! When you knew who he was! You could have destroyed
him there and then!"
"Forgive me, master, for my weakness... but I couldn't help myself... I was
just so angry that I completely forgot."
"I will forgive you this once. After all, you are only human. But he is
not... and now he has escaped! There is nothing for it."
"Master... you don't mean to..."
"Yes. I do. I will find him myself - and then the one obstacle in my path
will be removed... But first, we follow his footsteps."