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Description
Masked Memories

Written by Nitrinoxus and Throne Zwei
Edited and Formatted by Nitrinoxus

Chapter 6

Even so early in the morning, Castle Town Square was already abuzz with activity; people milled about around the large fountain at its center, carrying goods or purchases or simply exchanging gossip at the edge of the flowing water. People sat around tables at the plaza's outdoor cafe, enjoying their drinks and the morning air while a band of minstrels played and sang in the shade. "This place never fails to impress me," Gardus admitted as he and Silver walked into the square.

"Same... it's amazing what humans are capable of, isn't it?" Silver grinned happily as he looked around for a place to eat - hopefully with an owner who was willing to let them work for their food.

Unfortunately, the cafe only served drinks, though the woman behind the counter was kind enough to point them towards a bar along the south road -- it served food, and it wasn't likely to be crowded that early in the morning. So they took the suggested road past its fruit stands and flower vendors, giving a brief greeting to the Goron selling hot spring water there as they stepped down the side road and into the tavern.

As they entered, one of the patrons present -- a young man with reddish-brown hair and a youthful, bespectacled face -- looked up from his book; he smiled as he caught sight of Silver, standing and beckoning them over. "Ah, Daniel! Good to see you still in one piece! When I caught wind of what had happened in Kakariko, I was worried you wouldn't make it!"

The Zora turned to the source of the voice and blinked. Who was Daniel? And he didn't remember ever going to Kakariko... maybe that's where the wagon they'd woken up in had been departing from? "I'm sorry, but... who's Daniel? I'm Silver... or at least that's the name I'm going by until I remember... have we met?"

The young man looked surprised. "Don't tell me you've lost your memory, too...? We met yesterday! I'm Shad, remember?" He looked past the Zora. "And where's your Deku friend, Sprout? I thought he'd be with you."

"I... don't know... I remember waking up in a wagon with Gardus, but everything before that is a blur. I... don't suppose you've seen a Zora going by Delan, have you? Looks like me... he's my brother. And what do you mean by too?"

Shad sighed, gesturing to the seat opposite his at the table. "Have a seat, I'll try to explain..."

As Gardus helped the bar's owner move some heavy barrels of liquor from the storage room to the bar, Shad told Silver about the Zora and his botanical friend that had come to town the day before, of their first meeting with the young man and of their departure to Kakariko Village in search of Renado. Then he told of what he had heard from the merchant they had rode with, of the inexplicable snowstorm that had frozen the Goron village and buried the town under a thick blanket of dense snow. "After that, I'd worried the two of you had been frozen," he finished. "But now you wander back in, sans both your memories and Sprout and trailing this Gardus fellow. How very peculiar..."

"After we woke up in the wagon, we made it to the Zora's Domain, hoping to find out who I was. One of the other Zora there thought she recognized me, but it turned out she remembered my brother. We searched the entire day, then... well... I had a nightmare. Some kind of race or game with someone calling himself... what was it... Maja... Majora... something like that... then woke up and headed here."

At the mention of Majora's name, Shad stiffened. "...Majora?" he repeated.

Silver caught the youth's reaction and nodded, a fearful expression creeping onto his face. "I think that was it... never been so scared before than in that nightmare. I just remember feeling so... helpless."

Shad shuddered. "...It may not have been a nightmare," he said, tapping the closed book on the table. "I was reading a compilation of myths and legends from the Termina region, a fair distance from our fair Hyrule. In it, there is an account of a cursed mask that possessed a Skull Kid; this magically-empowered Skull Kid then began striking out at the locals, flinging curses at anyone unfortunate enough to cross his path..." He stopped for a minute. "Tell me, what did this Majora look like?"

"He... like a shadowy blob with a face... I think. I vaguely remember shapeshifting... I'm sorry, Shad. I don't remember a lot of that nightmare. Maybe Gardus can tell you more if this isn't enough." The Zora didn't recall any masks during the nightmare, but at points, it seemed like his own brain was actively stopping him from remembering what had happened. But the talk of lashing out at anyone unfortunate... the malice he remembered from the dream... caused the piscine teen to shudder.

Shad was silent. "...That sounds exactly like the creature that you said attacked you and Sprout before you first met me," he said at last. "If Majora is truly returned..." He looked to the bar, but Telma was still directing Gardus in the back. "Forgive me if this is troubling you. I'll be sure that word of this reaches someone who can help."

Silver nodded, a hopeful look crossing his face. Help... that was what he needed. What the whole of Hyrule needed, if Shad was this frightened - and he didn't seem like a person to startle easily. "What can you tell me of Majora? It sounds.... scary."

"From what the accounts say, he cursed at least five individuals, including a hero that was passing through the region," Shad said, setting the book open in front of Silver; on the page, an image of a young lad with golden hair and green clothes stood opposite a scrawny, scraggly creature in an ornate mask... a mask that bore a familiar pair of unblinking eyes. "From appearances, it's possible the young hero that stopped him in the end was the ancestor of our own hero, Link. But that's merely a guess."

Silver visibly jumped when he saw those eyes. He remembered them... all too well. "Must have taken a lot to stop something like that... but Majora just goes around cursing people? Why?"

Shad shrugged. "His motivations were ambiguous at best, I'm afraid. If anyone knew, their knowledge wasn't recorded in this book."

"I see... thank you for telling us... and I can't thank you enough for sending for help. I don't know why Majora would pick us to torment, but... I hope it stops soon."

Before their conversation could continue, a plate of grilled fish slid in front of Silver. "I am told many Zora enjoy grilled Hylian pike," Gardus said with a smile as he sat cross-legged on the floor next to the table, a chunk of rock in one orange-skinned hand. "Do not worry, our meals are paid off in full. Enjoy!"

"Thank you, Gardus... and that fish does smell awfully good." Silver grinned and began to eat, his hunger showing through how quickly he'd dug in. The Zora slowed down after the first bite or two as he savored the fish's taste. It explained all the heavy lifting his friend had been doing, and he never expected to find his brother on an empty stomach.

The Goron nodded, taking a crunching bite out of the rock in his hand. "So, what were the two of you discussing?"

XXX

Once their meal had concluded, the two friends had departed southwards, towards Faron Woods. Silver hadn't really been sure why he'd wanted to head that way, but it had been as good a direction as any, and the woods were large enough that he hoped that his brother might be inside them. While something told him they'd been there before, he still felt drawn there. Progress on foot had been slow, but it wasn't as if either of the friends minded - it just gave them more time to talk.

"So this Majora that has been following us is from an old legend?" Gardus inquired as he plodded along next to Silver. "It is almost beyond belief!"

"Almost... but it would explain why neither of us seem to remember much beyond the past day or so. Could even explain why I can't find Delan. But Shad knows what he's talking about, I can tell. Plus... he did send for someone to help. I couldn't ask for anything more." The Zora had a spring in his step as he walked alongside his rocky friend - he hoped that their problems, at least the recent ones, would be over with soon.

As they crossed the fields south of Castle Town, the tolling of a great clock tower echoed through the air, chiming the hour of noon as it arrived.

"You really should've left that Shad fellow out of this. Now I'll have to deal with him and his friends, too."

"You again... Majora. And if what Shad told me is right... you're going to have some trouble yourself."

The field darkened, a sudden night gripping the clearing as the shadowy Majora manifested in the air above them. "Ah, yes, the hero," he growled. "I doubt he's impervious to my curses, though. I'll have to pick one to use on him once I've finished with the two of you."

Silver grinned at Majora's annoyance - the shoe was on the other foot for once. "He'll be ready for you. Plus, didn't he beat you once already?"

"His ancestor did," the imp replied with a note of irritation. "This hero knows nothing of my magic. He won't be able to defeat me." He grinned. "But that's hardly your concern. After all, you'll be losing our next game, or did you forget?"

"Who said anything about us... or him... losing? But I'm ready to make you eat your words. I am tired of being your plaything."

Suddenly, the field was gone. The two looked around at the place Majora had sent them: ancient stone walls and tall hand-carved pillars lined the sand-caked room, dust hanging in the stale air like an earthy haze; the room was bathed in the light of four blazing blue flames atop a quartet of pillars ahead of them, lining the stairs towards a gaping doorway leading into the darkness.

"Great. What are you going to have us do this time?"

"Simple," Majora replied with an audible grin. "This place, referred to by the locals as the Arbiter's Grounds, is an ancient prison, where many of the land's worst criminals lived their final days in agony. Their souls and bodies still lurk here, ready to end the lives of any who tread the stones you stand on." He chuckled. "And today, you two will be joining their ranks. This is no game... it's a fight for your lives."

Any questions the Zora would have had, any comments, jibes or taunts died on his lips. As did the rest of his body. His heart stopped beating, his lungs stopped breathing... and then he began to change. What should have been unbearable pain was nothingness as he held a hand up, watching as the scales and every bit of flesh underneath rotted off, blood briefly turning into a toxic cesspit before it splattered over the ground as the rot began to spread, leaving nothing but bones behind. Oddly human-shaped bones at that. He grew taller as the rot reached his chest, treating Gardus to a presumably nauseating view of his chest cavity exposed, the organs withering to dust as the various fluids there either leaked onto the ground or dried up into dust. Soon, nothing but bones were on his torso, and the rot just continued to take any semblance to life he had, his legs growing and rotting away, only the bones remaining as the webbing decayed, his feet looking more human. His face was the next to go, the bones in his tail turning to ash as it rotted away, along with his nose and eyes, leaving behind two glowing red orbs. And soon, nothing but a tall skeleton - a Stalfos - remained.

Before the Goron could even begin to retch at the sight, a whirlwind of dry bandages obscured his view, coiling tight around his body and holding him in place with impossible strength. With every passing second, the wrappings wound tighter, crushing his stony body down beneath their enchanted bulk. As Gardus' wide frame slimmed, the magic wound in with him began taking its toll, his impressive muscles atrophying away as his hard skin softened into a human's flesh and then withered and dried into a lifeless grey; organs shriveled into nothingness, hands and feet grew bony and calloused, and his eyes dulled and vanished in their sockets to be replaced with an eldritch red glow. Where Gardus had been a moment before, a mummified ReDead now stood.

The glowing red orbs that served as the Stalfos's eyes narrowed in anger as he shouted at Majora, his voice inhumanly deep despite the lack of any lungs. "So, what kind of game is THIS? Turning us into the undead?"

"As I told you, you'll be fighting for your lives in here," Majora said coolly. "Or should I say, you'll be fighting to get your lives back. Using only your tireless bodies and any weapons and armor you can find or take, fight your way up to the top of the prison. If you can make it here before sunset, you'll win. But fail, and..." A chuckle rang through the air. "...Well, let's say that you'll be wishing you'd accepted my offers to quit."

The skeleton grumbled - there wasn't going to be any negotiating or begging Majora for mercy. He was sure he didn't want to find out what the spiteful little imp had meant when he had hinted at what would happen if they ran out of time before exiting the grounds. The fact that they couldn't die was probably the only real advantage they had against... whatever else was there. "...when we win... I've got a bone to pick with you."

Majora's laugh echoed off the stones as he faded from the room.

"We'd better find some weapons," Gardus said, his voice thin and raspy. "We don't stand much of a chance fighting with just our bare hands."

"Yeah... but I don't see many in here. We might need to loot them off of some bodies... or other inhabitants." The Stalfos nodded as he began making his way towards the exit of the room, his bony feet clacking against the floor as he tried to get used to the... nothingness he was feeling. He didn't feel the floor, couldn't smell the presumably-musty air... nothing. Just the sounds of their footsteps and nothing else.

Gardus shuffled behind, his gait numbed by his dried and deadened nerves. The bandages rustled every time he moved, and while he was grateful that he'd at least kept some of his mass, his magically-fueled body was neither as strong nor as resilient as the body he was used to. He glanced around as they shambled up the stairs and into the next room; the place was poorly lit, but the masonry still bore the mastery of its crafter through its apparent age. But there was little time to admire the architecture: standing between them and the next door was a Stalfos carrying a shield and bearing a wicked sword and a ReDead clad in armor scraps and dragging an immense blade.

"Good thing stabbing me to death won't work... of course... I don't think I've ever fought before. Have you?" The mirrored undead hadn't attacked them - yet - and Silver was sure that was only because they were also undead. But from the subtle twitches in the armed ReDead's hands, they didn't have long before the gruesome twosome did something.

"I don't know," Gardus admitted. "If I have, it was when my body was still big and stony."

"So then we improvise. I don't want to find out what happens when time runs out..." Desperation forced the Stalfos's hand as he charged his mirror image with inhuman speed, a punch aimed at the skeletal creature's skull. He didn't know if decapitation could kill... or re-kill... it, but all he needed was for it to drop the weapons long enough for him to take them.

The ReDead turned and raised his heavy blade, but a tackle from Gardus knocked the two mummified creatures aside; the thick blade clattered to the floor as the ReDeads tumbled, growling and scratching at each other on the dusty floor.

His plan only half-worked - while the other Stalfos hadn't had its head knocked off or dropped the sword, it had dropped the shield, which Silver had snatched up. If he'd still had lips, he would have smiled - it would be easier for him to win with this than if the other one kept blocking. With an unearthly yell, he fell upon the other skeleton, smashing and bashing the shield into it.

Gardus slashed his decayed nails across the ReDead's bandaged face, moving to grab its sword as it screeched in pain; he grabbed the hilt and lifted the titanic length of metal high, bringing it down on the fallen corpse and cleaving the creature in two. Instantly the light faded from its eyes, and its body crumbled into dust.

By the time he'd finished, the other Stalfos's skull had been caved in by the shield, the light fading from the empty sockets. Grasping the sword in his other hand, he gave a nod to his friend. "Well, looks like we've got our weapons now. We should hurry, though."

"Agreed," Gardus nodded, dragging the blade behind him as the two moved into the next room. The crumbled remains of a spiraling stairway ran up the walls around the tall cylindrical room, a thin groove the only thing spanning the gap between the fragmented path. "...No..."

"...you've got to be joking. One wrong move and we're both just a pile of broken bones. ...you go first. I'm lighter, faster. If something goes wrong, I can make it across easier."

The ReDead gave a raspy groan as he stepped towards the first gap in the stairs, sword clanking heavily against the steps behind him; he looked back at it, groaned again, and heaved it across the gap -- better to get it across first than try climbing with it in one hand, he reasoned. But one of his supernaturally strong bandages had become entangled on the hilt's jagged edges, unraveling from around his arm as it sailed along with the blade across the gap; he tried tugging it back as the sword struck the other side, and pulled himself across instead.

"Here I come... and let's hope this goes well..." Once Gardus had gotten clear, Silver backed up and ran full-tilt towards the gap before leaping across it, his landing kicking up a cloud of dust before he nearly fell over backwards when he lost his footing, only barely managing to keep from falling by using his sword to catch a nearby object.

With no further obstacles barring their way to the stairs, the undead friends proceeded to make their way up them, with Silver taking the lead. The Stalfos had reasoned that since he had fewer areas that could be hit and was quicker, it made more sense for him to take the lead. The thought of taking their lives back... and of showing Majora up drove him. What right did that imp have to keep messing with them?

They stopped for a moment as they landed on another length of aged stairway, Gardus rubbing his half-unwrapped arm as they paused their pattern of leaping from one section of the ruined stair to the next; even though his muscles and nerves had decayed past the point of feeling pain, the wear and tear of having to toss that immense sword like an oversized grappling hook was beginning to take its toll. He looked up, sighing a dry sigh as he saw the distance they had yet to go.

...Join them...

"...huh? Gardus, did you say something?" Silver looked around in a daze - he'd heard a voice, no... thousands of whispers, just a moment ago.

"I didn't, but I heard it too," the ReDead replied as he grabbed his blade. "I don't know what it meant by 'them', but it probably isn't good. Let's keep moving."

The two resumed their climb, the clanks and clacks echoing off the stones as the Stalfos and ReDead leaped and grappled their way up the demolished stairway, stopping only once they'd reached the uppermost landing and passed the doorway atop the stairs. The room beyond was wide and circular, with a great pit ringing a pillar that stretched down into the yawning abyss before them; a bridge of carved stone linked the top of the pillar to the edge of the pit, its dusty expanse pointing towards a passage opposite their entrance.

"Certainly picked the cheeriest place for our showdown, didn't he? And it's odd... I haven't seen many other undead." This didn't keep the skeletal teen from keeping his sword and shield at the ready just in case. For all his talk about needing weapons, Majora's words had fallen surprisingly flat. Not that Silver was complaining. Still, they began their advance towards it - and all Silver could think of was what this place had been like in full swing.

...Join them... Join the Many...

The two stopped their advance, the voices from before returning in force; with the sounds came a thick mental fog, a dense cloud that slowed the duo's thoughts and movements, smothering their minds like a suffocating blanket.

Yield your bodies... Let them take you... You belong with them... Join them...

Their bodies went limp, and the undead dyad tumbled into the wide pit, landing with a thump and a clatter on the sands at the bottom. But they felt nothing.

XXX

"You're running out of time, you know. Or have you given up?"

"Whuh... no... we didn't give up... and what do you mean? It's got to be only 3 at the most..." The Stalfos was the first to rise from... he wasn't sure what. He'd blacked out from hearing those creepy voices in his mind. The offers had been... tempting and smothering at the same time.

Majora sighed. "No, you and Gardus only have... oh, I'd say 30 minutes at most. You'll be lucky if you can climb out of the pit in time."

"WHAT? What the hell happened?"

"Those voices..." Gardus rasped, pushing himself up from the sands. "What were they? You know!"

"They're the collective souls of all those who met their end here," Majora answered smugly. "There's no sense of individuality among them, nor is there a sense of connection to the living or even their decayed bodies. Their tainted souls have blended into one entity, and it's that entity that animates every undead creature within these walls." The smirk on his lips was audible. "Including the two of you."

Silver was already up and trying to push Gardus and himself closer to leaving the pit. He knew what Majora's stakes were now - if they failed, they'd not only lose the game... they'd lose any sense of themselves. Nothing more than two more undead guardians just waiting for someone stupid enough to blunder into the Grounds to slay and add to the collective. "...you've got it all figured out, haven't you, you smug little bastard?"

"You really should've quit while you had the chance," Majora lectured casually as the two began to work their way along the narrow grooves spiraling up the central pillar. "Better hurry, the sun's nearing the horizon now. I'd say you've got about 25 minutes left now."

"I am going to make you eat those words... c'mon, Gardus!" The skeleton ground his teeth in frustration as he kept working his way up the grooves. He would not be trapped here. He would not lose who he was because Majora wanted to play a game. And most importantly, he would not forget his friend and his brother. Not here. Not ever.

As they climbed closer and closer to the pillar's top, the voices began to return.

Don't resist...

They welcome you...

You will not escape...

Give in...

Let your soul merge with the Many...

"Shut up... we're not going to be joining you..." The Stalfos gave a chilling growl as the two undead made it closer and closer to the top of the pillar. The voices were so insistent, so relentless. They seemed to carry the weight of the countless thousands that had perished there - and that was what chilled Silver the most. This entity had seethed for who knew how long. But they wouldn't need to worry if... no... when they won Majora's game. They reached the top of the pillar not long later as the skeleton nodded. They could make it.

You will cease your resistance...

You will surrender to their embrace...

You will join the Many...

You will join them...

You will join them...

Join them...

Join them...

"Join them..."

The voices kept hammering away as Silver tried to ignore them, but the last one... wasn't a good sign. It was Gardus speaking, not one of the Many. "Gardus! Snap out of it! Do you really want to be a zombie for the rest of time?"

"Join them..." the ReDead repeated, the light in his eyes dulling and his posture drooping as the Many's influence gripped his mind, smothering and silencing whatever remained of Gardus within that decayed form. "Join them... join them... join... them..." Suddenly, his head lurched up, and a piercing screech tore from his decayed throat; the inhuman sound echoed off the high ceiling and stone floors, lancing fear through Silver's nonexistent heart. Gardus was gone.

"Damn it... come on... there's still time..." The Stalfos backed up, more fearful of what had happened to his friend than of the screech. He didn't know how much time they had left, but they had to have some. They could still cross the line to get out of there.... "Well then... come on. Come get me..." He banged the flat of his sword against the shield as he stepped backwards.

The ReDead groaned mindlessly, its giant sword gouging into the floor as the mummified undead dragged it behind with one arm. "Join us..." came a chorus of voices from the creature's mouth; the words weren't spoken, so much as they tumbled forth from the gaping maw. "Join us... you belong with us..."

Silver grunted as he continued backing up towards the exit, banging on the shield more - they'd both cross the line one way or another. "You're wrong... I am not one of you! I am a Zora! And Gardus is my friend... a Goron... not some rotting corpse!"

"He is inside with us..." the voices droned in unison, the mindless body brandishing the immense blade it carried; in the low light, the skeleton could make out the glow of a great mass of dark energy condensed around the ancient steel, the tangible form of the force that had taken control of Gardus' body. "And you will join him... you will join us..." The blade crashed down just shy of the Stalfos, the energy seething and writhing and resettling on its metal bed.

While he couldn't feel it, Silver was certain that he would've felt the air of the blade rushing by him - and going by the dark energy going around it, the Many weren't going to wait for time to run out before trying to snuff out his individuality. He leapt backwards, ever closer to the exit - with another snag in the form of whatever that energy was. "Then give him back! He's my friend! One of the few I have!"

"Then come to us..." the Many replied, lifting the blade again; instead of swinging it down, the corpse threw it like a cursed javelin, the hunk of metal sailing through the gaping passage as the Stalfos deftly leapt aside. "Join us..." the ReDead moaned, clutching the stray bandage that stretched from the blade's hilt to its wrist and pulling back hard, sailing almost weightlessly into the Stalfos and crashing shoulder-first into Silver's dry bones, carrying them both towards the sword and the door. "Join us... in HELL!"

Description
Masked Memories

Written by Nitrinoxus and Throne Zwei
Edited and Formatted by Nitrinoxus

Chapter 6

Even so early in the morning, Castle Town Square was already abuzz with activity; people milled about around the large fountain at its center, carrying goods or purchases or simply exchanging gossip at the edge of the flowing water. People sat around tables at the plaza's outdoor cafe, enjoying their drinks and the morning air while a band of minstrels played and sang in the shade. "This place never fails to impress me," Gardus admitted as he and Silver walked into the square.

"Same... it's amazing what humans are capable of, isn't it?" Silver grinned happily as he looked around for a place to eat - hopefully with an owner who was willing to let them work for their food.

Unfortunately, the cafe only served drinks, though the woman behind the counter was kind enough to point them towards a bar along the south road -- it served food, and it wasn't likely to be crowded that early in the morning. So they took the suggested road past its fruit stands and flower vendors, giving a brief greeting to the Goron selling hot spring water there as they stepped down the side road and into the tavern.

As they entered, one of the patrons present -- a young man with reddish-brown hair and a youthful, bespectacled face -- looked up from his book; he smiled as he caught sight of Silver, standing and beckoning them over. "Ah, Daniel! Good to see you still in one piece! When I caught wind of what had happened in Kakariko, I was worried you wouldn't make it!"

The Zora turned to the source of the voice and blinked. Who was Daniel? And he didn't remember ever going to Kakariko... maybe that's where the wagon they'd woken up in had been departing from? "I'm sorry, but... who's Daniel? I'm Silver... or at least that's the name I'm going by until I remember... have we met?"

The young man looked surprised. "Don't tell me you've lost your memory, too...? We met yesterday! I'm Shad, remember?" He looked past the Zora. "And where's your Deku friend, Sprout? I thought he'd be with you."

"I... don't know... I remember waking up in a wagon with Gardus, but everything before that is a blur. I... don't suppose you've seen a Zora going by Delan, have you? Looks like me... he's my brother. And what do you mean by too?"

Shad sighed, gesturing to the seat opposite his at the table. "Have a seat, I'll try to explain..."

As Gardus helped the bar's owner move some heavy barrels of liquor from the storage room to the bar, Shad told Silver about the Zora and his botanical friend that had come to town the day before, of their first meeting with the young man and of their departure to Kakariko Village in search of Renado. Then he told of what he had heard from the merchant they had rode with, of the inexplicable snowstorm that had frozen the Goron village and buried the town under a thick blanket of dense snow. "After that, I'd worried the two of you had been frozen," he finished. "But now you wander back in, sans both your memories and Sprout and trailing this Gardus fellow. How very peculiar..."

"After we woke up in the wagon, we made it to the Zora's Domain, hoping to find out who I was. One of the other Zora there thought she recognized me, but it turned out she remembered my brother. We searched the entire day, then... well... I had a nightmare. Some kind of race or game with someone calling himself... what was it... Maja... Majora... something like that... then woke up and headed here."

At the mention of Majora's name, Shad stiffened. "...Majora?" he repeated.

Silver caught the youth's reaction and nodded, a fearful expression creeping onto his face. "I think that was it... never been so scared before than in that nightmare. I just remember feeling so... helpless."

Shad shuddered. "...It may not have been a nightmare," he said, tapping the closed book on the table. "I was reading a compilation of myths and legends from the Termina region, a fair distance from our fair Hyrule. In it, there is an account of a cursed mask that possessed a Skull Kid; this magically-empowered Skull Kid then began striking out at the locals, flinging curses at anyone unfortunate enough to cross his path..." He stopped for a minute. "Tell me, what did this Majora look like?"

"He... like a shadowy blob with a face... I think. I vaguely remember shapeshifting... I'm sorry, Shad. I don't remember a lot of that nightmare. Maybe Gardus can tell you more if this isn't enough." The Zora didn't recall any masks during the nightmare, but at points, it seemed like his own brain was actively stopping him from remembering what had happened. But the talk of lashing out at anyone unfortunate... the malice he remembered from the dream... caused the piscine teen to shudder.

Shad was silent. "...That sounds exactly like the creature that you said attacked you and Sprout before you first met me," he said at last. "If Majora is truly returned..." He looked to the bar, but Telma was still directing Gardus in the back. "Forgive me if this is troubling you. I'll be sure that word of this reaches someone who can help."

Silver nodded, a hopeful look crossing his face. Help... that was what he needed. What the whole of Hyrule needed, if Shad was this frightened - and he didn't seem like a person to startle easily. "What can you tell me of Majora? It sounds.... scary."

"From what the accounts say, he cursed at least five individuals, including a hero that was passing through the region," Shad said, setting the book open in front of Silver; on the page, an image of a young lad with golden hair and green clothes stood opposite a scrawny, scraggly creature in an ornate mask... a mask that bore a familiar pair of unblinking eyes. "From appearances, it's possible the young hero that stopped him in the end was the ancestor of our own hero, Link. But that's merely a guess."

Silver visibly jumped when he saw those eyes. He remembered them... all too well. "Must have taken a lot to stop something like that... but Majora just goes around cursing people? Why?"

Shad shrugged. "His motivations were ambiguous at best, I'm afraid. If anyone knew, their knowledge wasn't recorded in this book."

"I see... thank you for telling us... and I can't thank you enough for sending for help. I don't know why Majora would pick us to torment, but... I hope it stops soon."

Before their conversation could continue, a plate of grilled fish slid in front of Silver. "I am told many Zora enjoy grilled Hylian pike," Gardus said with a smile as he sat cross-legged on the floor next to the table, a chunk of rock in one orange-skinned hand. "Do not worry, our meals are paid off in full. Enjoy!"

"Thank you, Gardus... and that fish does smell awfully good." Silver grinned and began to eat, his hunger showing through how quickly he'd dug in. The Zora slowed down after the first bite or two as he savored the fish's taste. It explained all the heavy lifting his friend had been doing, and he never expected to find his brother on an empty stomach.

The Goron nodded, taking a crunching bite out of the rock in his hand. "So, what were the two of you discussing?"

XXX

Once their meal had concluded, the two friends had departed southwards, towards Faron Woods. Silver hadn't really been sure why he'd wanted to head that way, but it had been as good a direction as any, and the woods were large enough that he hoped that his brother might be inside them. While something told him they'd been there before, he still felt drawn there. Progress on foot had been slow, but it wasn't as if either of the friends minded - it just gave them more time to talk.

"So this Majora that has been following us is from an old legend?" Gardus inquired as he plodded along next to Silver. "It is almost beyond belief!"

"Almost... but it would explain why neither of us seem to remember much beyond the past day or so. Could even explain why I can't find Delan. But Shad knows what he's talking about, I can tell. Plus... he did send for someone to help. I couldn't ask for anything more." The Zora had a spring in his step as he walked alongside his rocky friend - he hoped that their problems, at least the recent ones, would be over with soon.

As they crossed the fields south of Castle Town, the tolling of a great clock tower echoed through the air, chiming the hour of noon as it arrived.

"You really should've left that Shad fellow out of this. Now I'll have to deal with him and his friends, too."

"You again... Majora. And if what Shad told me is right... you're going to have some trouble yourself."

The field darkened, a sudden night gripping the clearing as the shadowy Majora manifested in the air above them. "Ah, yes, the hero," he growled. "I doubt he's impervious to my curses, though. I'll have to pick one to use on him once I've finished with the two of you."

Silver grinned at Majora's annoyance - the shoe was on the other foot for once. "He'll be ready for you. Plus, didn't he beat you once already?"

"His ancestor did," the imp replied with a note of irritation. "This hero knows nothing of my magic. He won't be able to defeat me." He grinned. "But that's hardly your concern. After all, you'll be losing our next game, or did you forget?"

"Who said anything about us... or him... losing? But I'm ready to make you eat your words. I am tired of being your plaything."

Suddenly, the field was gone. The two looked around at the place Majora had sent them: ancient stone walls and tall hand-carved pillars lined the sand-caked room, dust hanging in the stale air like an earthy haze; the room was bathed in the light of four blazing blue flames atop a quartet of pillars ahead of them, lining the stairs towards a gaping doorway leading into the darkness.

"Great. What are you going to have us do this time?"

"Simple," Majora replied with an audible grin. "This place, referred to by the locals as the Arbiter's Grounds, is an ancient prison, where many of the land's worst criminals lived their final days in agony. Their souls and bodies still lurk here, ready to end the lives of any who tread the stones you stand on." He chuckled. "And today, you two will be joining their ranks. This is no game... it's a fight for your lives."

Any questions the Zora would have had, any comments, jibes or taunts died on his lips. As did the rest of his body. His heart stopped beating, his lungs stopped breathing... and then he began to change. What should have been unbearable pain was nothingness as he held a hand up, watching as the scales and every bit of flesh underneath rotted off, blood briefly turning into a toxic cesspit before it splattered over the ground as the rot began to spread, leaving nothing but bones behind. Oddly human-shaped bones at that. He grew taller as the rot reached his chest, treating Gardus to a presumably nauseating view of his chest cavity exposed, the organs withering to dust as the various fluids there either leaked onto the ground or dried up into dust. Soon, nothing but bones were on his torso, and the rot just continued to take any semblance to life he had, his legs growing and rotting away, only the bones remaining as the webbing decayed, his feet looking more human. His face was the next to go, the bones in his tail turning to ash as it rotted away, along with his nose and eyes, leaving behind two glowing red orbs. And soon, nothing but a tall skeleton - a Stalfos - remained.

Before the Goron could even begin to retch at the sight, a whirlwind of dry bandages obscured his view, coiling tight around his body and holding him in place with impossible strength. With every passing second, the wrappings wound tighter, crushing his stony body down beneath their enchanted bulk. As Gardus' wide frame slimmed, the magic wound in with him began taking its toll, his impressive muscles atrophying away as his hard skin softened into a human's flesh and then withered and dried into a lifeless grey; organs shriveled into nothingness, hands and feet grew bony and calloused, and his eyes dulled and vanished in their sockets to be replaced with an eldritch red glow. Where Gardus had been a moment before, a mummified ReDead now stood.

The glowing red orbs that served as the Stalfos's eyes narrowed in anger as he shouted at Majora, his voice inhumanly deep despite the lack of any lungs. "So, what kind of game is THIS? Turning us into the undead?"

"As I told you, you'll be fighting for your lives in here," Majora said coolly. "Or should I say, you'll be fighting to get your lives back. Using only your tireless bodies and any weapons and armor you can find or take, fight your way up to the top of the prison. If you can make it here before sunset, you'll win. But fail, and..." A chuckle rang through the air. "...Well, let's say that you'll be wishing you'd accepted my offers to quit."

The skeleton grumbled - there wasn't going to be any negotiating or begging Majora for mercy. He was sure he didn't want to find out what the spiteful little imp had meant when he had hinted at what would happen if they ran out of time before exiting the grounds. The fact that they couldn't die was probably the only real advantage they had against... whatever else was there. "...when we win... I've got a bone to pick with you."

Majora's laugh echoed off the stones as he faded from the room.

"We'd better find some weapons," Gardus said, his voice thin and raspy. "We don't stand much of a chance fighting with just our bare hands."

"Yeah... but I don't see many in here. We might need to loot them off of some bodies... or other inhabitants." The Stalfos nodded as he began making his way towards the exit of the room, his bony feet clacking against the floor as he tried to get used to the... nothingness he was feeling. He didn't feel the floor, couldn't smell the presumably-musty air... nothing. Just the sounds of their footsteps and nothing else.

Gardus shuffled behind, his gait numbed by his dried and deadened nerves. The bandages rustled every time he moved, and while he was grateful that he'd at least kept some of his mass, his magically-fueled body was neither as strong nor as resilient as the body he was used to. He glanced around as they shambled up the stairs and into the next room; the place was poorly lit, but the masonry still bore the mastery of its crafter through its apparent age. But there was little time to admire the architecture: standing between them and the next door was a Stalfos carrying a shield and bearing a wicked sword and a ReDead clad in armor scraps and dragging an immense blade.

"Good thing stabbing me to death won't work... of course... I don't think I've ever fought before. Have you?" The mirrored undead hadn't attacked them - yet - and Silver was sure that was only because they were also undead. But from the subtle twitches in the armed ReDead's hands, they didn't have long before the gruesome twosome did something.

"I don't know," Gardus admitted. "If I have, it was when my body was still big and stony."

"So then we improvise. I don't want to find out what happens when time runs out..." Desperation forced the Stalfos's hand as he charged his mirror image with inhuman speed, a punch aimed at the skeletal creature's skull. He didn't know if decapitation could kill... or re-kill... it, but all he needed was for it to drop the weapons long enough for him to take them.

The ReDead turned and raised his heavy blade, but a tackle from Gardus knocked the two mummified creatures aside; the thick blade clattered to the floor as the ReDeads tumbled, growling and scratching at each other on the dusty floor.

His plan only half-worked - while the other Stalfos hadn't had its head knocked off or dropped the sword, it had dropped the shield, which Silver had snatched up. If he'd still had lips, he would have smiled - it would be easier for him to win with this than if the other one kept blocking. With an unearthly yell, he fell upon the other skeleton, smashing and bashing the shield into it.

Gardus slashed his decayed nails across the ReDead's bandaged face, moving to grab its sword as it screeched in pain; he grabbed the hilt and lifted the titanic length of metal high, bringing it down on the fallen corpse and cleaving the creature in two. Instantly the light faded from its eyes, and its body crumbled into dust.

By the time he'd finished, the other Stalfos's skull had been caved in by the shield, the light fading from the empty sockets. Grasping the sword in his other hand, he gave a nod to his friend. "Well, looks like we've got our weapons now. We should hurry, though."

"Agreed," Gardus nodded, dragging the blade behind him as the two moved into the next room. The crumbled remains of a spiraling stairway ran up the walls around the tall cylindrical room, a thin groove the only thing spanning the gap between the fragmented path. "...No..."

"...you've got to be joking. One wrong move and we're both just a pile of broken bones. ...you go first. I'm lighter, faster. If something goes wrong, I can make it across easier."

The ReDead gave a raspy groan as he stepped towards the first gap in the stairs, sword clanking heavily against the steps behind him; he looked back at it, groaned again, and heaved it across the gap -- better to get it across first than try climbing with it in one hand, he reasoned. But one of his supernaturally strong bandages had become entangled on the hilt's jagged edges, unraveling from around his arm as it sailed along with the blade across the gap; he tried tugging it back as the sword struck the other side, and pulled himself across instead.

"Here I come... and let's hope this goes well..." Once Gardus had gotten clear, Silver backed up and ran full-tilt towards the gap before leaping across it, his landing kicking up a cloud of dust before he nearly fell over backwards when he lost his footing, only barely managing to keep from falling by using his sword to catch a nearby object.

With no further obstacles barring their way to the stairs, the undead friends proceeded to make their way up them, with Silver taking the lead. The Stalfos had reasoned that since he had fewer areas that could be hit and was quicker, it made more sense for him to take the lead. The thought of taking their lives back... and of showing Majora up drove him. What right did that imp have to keep messing with them?

They stopped for a moment as they landed on another length of aged stairway, Gardus rubbing his half-unwrapped arm as they paused their pattern of leaping from one section of the ruined stair to the next; even though his muscles and nerves had decayed past the point of feeling pain, the wear and tear of having to toss that immense sword like an oversized grappling hook was beginning to take its toll. He looked up, sighing a dry sigh as he saw the distance they had yet to go.

...Join them...

"...huh? Gardus, did you say something?" Silver looked around in a daze - he'd heard a voice, no... thousands of whispers, just a moment ago.

"I didn't, but I heard it too," the ReDead replied as he grabbed his blade. "I don't know what it meant by 'them', but it probably isn't good. Let's keep moving."

The two resumed their climb, the clanks and clacks echoing off the stones as the Stalfos and ReDead leaped and grappled their way up the demolished stairway, stopping only once they'd reached the uppermost landing and passed the doorway atop the stairs. The room beyond was wide and circular, with a great pit ringing a pillar that stretched down into the yawning abyss before them; a bridge of carved stone linked the top of the pillar to the edge of the pit, its dusty expanse pointing towards a passage opposite their entrance.

"Certainly picked the cheeriest place for our showdown, didn't he? And it's odd... I haven't seen many other undead." This didn't keep the skeletal teen from keeping his sword and shield at the ready just in case. For all his talk about needing weapons, Majora's words had fallen surprisingly flat. Not that Silver was complaining. Still, they began their advance towards it - and all Silver could think of was what this place had been like in full swing.

...Join them... Join the Many...

The two stopped their advance, the voices from before returning in force; with the sounds came a thick mental fog, a dense cloud that slowed the duo's thoughts and movements, smothering their minds like a suffocating blanket.

Yield your bodies... Let them take you... You belong with them... Join them...

Their bodies went limp, and the undead dyad tumbled into the wide pit, landing with a thump and a clatter on the sands at the bottom. But they felt nothing.

XXX

"You're running out of time, you know. Or have you given up?"

"Whuh... no... we didn't give up... and what do you mean? It's got to be only 3 at the most..." The Stalfos was the first to rise from... he wasn't sure what. He'd blacked out from hearing those creepy voices in his mind. The offers had been... tempting and smothering at the same time.

Majora sighed. "No, you and Gardus only have... oh, I'd say 30 minutes at most. You'll be lucky if you can climb out of the pit in time."

"WHAT? What the hell happened?"

"Those voices..." Gardus rasped, pushing himself up from the sands. "What were they? You know!"

"They're the collective souls of all those who met their end here," Majora answered smugly. "There's no sense of individuality among them, nor is there a sense of connection to the living or even their decayed bodies. Their tainted souls have blended into one entity, and it's that entity that animates every undead creature within these walls." The smirk on his lips was audible. "Including the two of you."

Silver was already up and trying to push Gardus and himself closer to leaving the pit. He knew what Majora's stakes were now - if they failed, they'd not only lose the game... they'd lose any sense of themselves. Nothing more than two more undead guardians just waiting for someone stupid enough to blunder into the Grounds to slay and add to the collective. "...you've got it all figured out, haven't you, you smug little bastard?"

"You really should've quit while you had the chance," Majora lectured casually as the two began to work their way along the narrow grooves spiraling up the central pillar. "Better hurry, the sun's nearing the horizon now. I'd say you've got about 25 minutes left now."

"I am going to make you eat those words... c'mon, Gardus!" The skeleton ground his teeth in frustration as he kept working his way up the grooves. He would not be trapped here. He would not lose who he was because Majora wanted to play a game. And most importantly, he would not forget his friend and his brother. Not here. Not ever.

As they climbed closer and closer to the pillar's top, the voices began to return.

Don't resist...

They welcome you...

You will not escape...

Give in...

Let your soul merge with the Many...

"Shut up... we're not going to be joining you..." The Stalfos gave a chilling growl as the two undead made it closer and closer to the top of the pillar. The voices were so insistent, so relentless. They seemed to carry the weight of the countless thousands that had perished there - and that was what chilled Silver the most. This entity had seethed for who knew how long. But they wouldn't need to worry if... no... when they won Majora's game. They reached the top of the pillar not long later as the skeleton nodded. They could make it.

You will cease your resistance...

You will surrender to their embrace...

You will join the Many...

You will join them...

You will join them...

Join them...

Join them...

"Join them..."

The voices kept hammering away as Silver tried to ignore them, but the last one... wasn't a good sign. It was Gardus speaking, not one of the Many. "Gardus! Snap out of it! Do you really want to be a zombie for the rest of time?"

"Join them..." the ReDead repeated, the light in his eyes dulling and his posture drooping as the Many's influence gripped his mind, smothering and silencing whatever remained of Gardus within that decayed form. "Join them... join them... join... them..." Suddenly, his head lurched up, and a piercing screech tore from his decayed throat; the inhuman sound echoed off the high ceiling and stone floors, lancing fear through Silver's nonexistent heart. Gardus was gone.

"Damn it... come on... there's still time..." The Stalfos backed up, more fearful of what had happened to his friend than of the screech. He didn't know how much time they had left, but they had to have some. They could still cross the line to get out of there.... "Well then... come on. Come get me..." He banged the flat of his sword against the shield as he stepped backwards.

The ReDead groaned mindlessly, its giant sword gouging into the floor as the mummified undead dragged it behind with one arm. "Join us..." came a chorus of voices from the creature's mouth; the words weren't spoken, so much as they tumbled forth from the gaping maw. "Join us... you belong with us..."

Silver grunted as he continued backing up towards the exit, banging on the shield more - they'd both cross the line one way or another. "You're wrong... I am not one of you! I am a Zora! And Gardus is my friend... a Goron... not some rotting corpse!"

"He is inside with us..." the voices droned in unison, the mindless body brandishing the immense blade it carried; in the low light, the skeleton could make out the glow of a great mass of dark energy condensed around the ancient steel, the tangible form of the force that had taken control of Gardus' body. "And you will join him... you will join us..." The blade crashed down just shy of the Stalfos, the energy seething and writhing and resettling on its metal bed.

While he couldn't feel it, Silver was certain that he would've felt the air of the blade rushing by him - and going by the dark energy going around it, the Many weren't going to wait for time to run out before trying to snuff out his individuality. He leapt backwards, ever closer to the exit - with another snag in the form of whatever that energy was. "Then give him back! He's my friend! One of the few I have!"

"Then come to us..." the Many replied, lifting the blade again; instead of swinging it down, the corpse threw it like a cursed javelin, the hunk of metal sailing through the gaping passage as the Stalfos deftly leapt aside. "Join us..." the ReDead moaned, clutching the stray bandage that stretched from the blade's hilt to its wrist and pulling back hard, sailing almost weightlessly into the Stalfos and crashing shoulder-first into Silver's dry bones, carrying them both towards the sword and the door. "Join us... in HELL!"