Shards

Chapter 7 - Returning Echoes
In which ghosts prove to be restless.

	Saria met me in the woods.  I was glad, somehow, that it was her I saw first, and not Zelda.  Saria understood me better.  She was a Kokiri, an eternal child, but she was also older than I, and wiser.  She didn't ask me what had happened, though she did answer when I asked how long I had been away.

	"A little over a week," she said.

	"A week."  I shook my head, though when I added it up in my mind it worked out.  I rode out one day, then there were the endless three days, then the four days I spent sending off my friends, and one day to ride back.  Nine days.  I had completely lost count, but I was sure I'd been at least a month, possibly more, in that endless loop.  And I'd had enough experiences crammed into that time to age me several years. 

	Saria didn't pry.  I wanted to tell her about it, but not until I was ready.  And talking about Termina meant talking about Shadow, about having other people's voices in my head.  I wasn't ready to share that with anyone yet, not even her.  

	I stayed in Kokiri Village for nearly a week.  It was restful, an antidote to the darkness I'd endured.  I even ventured back into the Lost Woods, and met the Skull Kid again, in the same place where long ago I'd taught him a song.  I let Shadow take over, and the two of them played and pranked their way through a long afternoon.

	Eventually, however, being among the Kokiri began to wear on me.  They were children, and their priorities were children's priorities.  They wanted to run and play, not to ponder and think, and they had a hard time leaving me alone.  I was still, after all, a boy without a fairy, and they had not lost their taste for teasing.  To them it had been only a few months since I'd begun my very first quest.  They knew nothing of what I'd gone through, save Saria, and seeing her had begun to make my stomach clench, for I wanted to tell her everything, and yet I didn't quite dare.

	But it wasn't my increasing annoyance with the Kokiri's childish nature that drove me from the forest.  It was something else that happened one evening.  Something that frightened me to the core.

	It was late, and most of the Kokiri had retired to their beds.  I had come to sit beside a little waterfall and think about what to do next.  Hyrule's peace was soothing, it was good to be in a land where danger seldom came, and better to know that was in part because of me.  But it didn't actually do anything for my problems.  I was still an adult in a child's body.  I still shared that body with Shadow, and possibly also with an unknown being who was a match for a mad god.  And I still wanted a sense of purpose in my life.  None of that had changed.  I needed rest now, but the time would have to come when I would do [i]something[/i] else with my life.  But what?  And what was I going to do about the one mask I had left?

	I turned ideas over in my head for some time.  But eventually I started going around in circles, so I stood, deciding to go for a swim.  I dove smoothly into the pool... and came up wearing fins.  Without even thinking about, and [i]without a mask[/i], I'd changed into a Zora again.

	[i]:What in Din's name?!:[/i]  Shadow's sentiment matched my own.  What had just happened?

	[i]:Mikau?:[/i]  My heart was racing.  I felt somewhat literally like I had seen a ghost.  Mikau was supposed to be gone, and without his mask this was supposed to be completely impossible!  And how was I going to change back again?

	[i]:Mikau?!:[/i]  My call was nearly panicked.  [i]:Are you there? What's going on?  Help!:[/i]

	A very faint, sleepy-sounding voice finally answered.  [i]:Chill out little dude, I'm here.  No need to freak.:

	:What's going on?:

	:Your guess is as good as mine, buddy.:[/i]  I got a mental image of him blinking sleepily, slowly waking.  

	[i]:How do I change back?:[/i]

	Mikau finally came fully awake, and I could feel him looking through my eyes.  He looked down at my hands, his hands, curiously.  [i]:I don't know, little dude.:

	:If diving in changed you, maybe getting out of the water will change you back?:[/i] suggested Shadow.  

	I looked around, suddenly realizing that I might have been seen.  Right now I looked more or less like any Zora, but if somebody had seen my change... but there was no sign of any observer.  So no one would see if I changed back, then.  Taking Shadow's suggestion I climbed out of the pool, but I still remained a Zora.

	[i]:You've changed how you looked in here, in the inner world before,:[/i] said Shadow.  [i]:And I can change more or less just by willing it.  Maybe...?:[/i]

	It was worth trying.  I closed my eyes and willed myself to my normal form, picturing it, demanding that reality conform to my wishes.

	When I opened them again I breathed a sigh of relief.  It had worked.  Although I couldn't imagine how.  I was no mage!  And I had no mask!  

	[i]:I've always been able to change your appearance, although just in small ways,:[/i] mused Shadow.  [i]:Maybe this is related.:

	:Maybe.:[/i]  My heart was still pounding with fear.  I couldn't help but think that something had gone horribly wrong.  And even without the baffling puzzle of how I could change without a mask's magic, why was Mikau still with me?

	[i]:Mikau...  I thought you'd gone on?  I thought you'd had your last gig.:

	:I thought so too, little dude.  I felt so completely chill...  And for a while there I could remember being me.  I remembered meeting Lulu, and all my gigs with the band, and everything.  But that's all gone again.  I don't know...:

	:I'm so sorry.  I didn't want to trap you here with me.:

	:Hey, don't be sorry.  I like you, dude.  I don't mind.  The peace was nice, but living is nice too.:

	:Is it really living?:

	:Sure it is.  I can swim, I can play, I can sing.  Just find me a guitar and I couldn't ask for anything more.:

	:I'll look for one,:[/i] I promised.

	I went to my bed that night still feeling frightened.  I didn't know what was going on.  As I lay sleeplessly staring up at the ceiling, I heard another familiar voice.  [i]:You not need to fear.  Is all right.  We still here, is not so bad, is it?:[/i]

	I put my arm over my eyes and sighed.  [i]:No it isn't so bad, Scrub.  But I just worry.  I don't understand why this happened, and if I start changing forms accidentally, people are going to notice.:

	:Well, we've managed to control your turning into me,:[/i] said Shadow.  [i]:Nobody ever saw us do that.  Maybe we can keep in control of this, now that we know it can happen.:

	:I hope so,:[/i] I said.  [i]:I just wish I knew why!:[/i]

	Darmani's voice, slow and a bit sleepy sounding, said, [i]:Is there not some place in this land where one can learn about magics?:

	:Hyrule Castle's library has a lot of books about magic,:[/i] I said.  

	:Then we should seek it out, and find if anything there speaks of such transformations.:

	:Good idea, bro.:[/i]  Mikau's voice was calmly cheerful.  With all of them there, reassuring me, I felt better.  Slowly I relaxed.  We'd solved every problem we'd faced thus far. We'd solve this one too.  And I had to admit that I'd missed them.  It was good to have them with me again.  I didn't understand how or why, and I couldn't help but feel selfish and guilty, a bit, but it was good all the same.  They were my friends.

-----	
	
	Hyrule Castle's library proved to be extensive.  Perhaps a little too extensive.  Looking at the vast room of books I realized that I had my work cut out for me.  And I couldn't just go up to the librarian and ask him for books about how to deal with other people moving into your head.  So for the time being I set the library aside to think about while I settled back into life among royalty.
	
	Princess Zelda was happy to see me again.  "I thought you were going to be gone for ages and ages!  Did you find your fairy?"
	
	"No," I replied ruefully.  I'd nearly forgotten that I'd originally set out to find Navi.  "I'll probably leave again eventually, but I had another adventure, and I needed to rest for a while after."
	
	"You are always welcome here, Link."  She smiled at me.  I couldn't help but smile back.  I liked Zelda.  I liked her quite a lot, and I couldn't help but think, sometimes, that perhaps someday we might be something more than just friends.  
	
	[i]:She's quite a catch, loverboy,:[/i] said Shadow teasingly.  
	
	[i]:Oh shut up,:[/i]  I replied, trying not to blush.  I focused my attention on the princess, I shouldn't let Shadow distract me.  "I should return the Ocarina of Time to you."
	
	"No, keep it.  It's yours.  I'd only have to give it to you again when you go, after all."
	
	I chuckled.  "Thank you.  It's already saved my life at least once."
	
	"You'll have to tell me all about it, I want to hear."
	
	"I will," I said, mentally making a note to figure out how much of the tale I could tell without getting into areas I wasn't willing to discuss.  Should I mention the mask transformations at all?  I probably could if I kept it just on the physical changes.
	
	Once my things were stowed in my room at the castle I set off into the market town.  I had a promise to keep.  
	
	Finding the instrument store was easy.  Finding a guitar for Mikau was a little bit harder.  I didn't know enough to pick one he would like, so he had to try every guitar in the store himself.  Using my hands.  Which meant that I couldn't help but fret that I would accidentally turn into a Zora right in front of the shopkeeper.  But eventually when nothing happened I managed to calm down a little.  Mikau was taking care to use my fingers and not try to change, and apparently that was enough.
	
	"Those are all a little big for you, you know," said the shopkeeper.  "I have some child size guitars in the back."
	
	"But I'll grow up," I said, not wanting to explain the real situation.  "So it's better to get one I can keep using for years."
	
	"True, true."  He smiled at me.  "Nice to see a young man like yourself taking music so seriously."  He turned back to the flute he was repairing, and I continued to let Mikau try guitars until finally he decided on one he liked.
	
	[i]:It's not as good as my old axe, but it's pretty sweet.:[/i]
	
	"You have a good ear," said the shopkeeper when I went to pay.  "That one isn't as flashy as some, but it has probably the nicest tone of anything in the shop."
	
	"Thanks," I said with a smile, knowing that my own talent had nothing to do with it.  Though I wouldn't mind learning to play, perhaps Mikau could teach me.
	
	On my way back to the castle, guitar in hand, I had a thought.
	
	[i]:Does anybody else want anything?:[/i] I asked, directing the thought generally towards the inner space.
	
	[i]:I am mostly interested in seeing the library,:[/i] said Darmani, [i]:so my wishes will be granted in the course of pursuing answers for you.:
	
	:I like games.  You play hide and seek with Zela again sometime, yes?:[/i]
	
	I chuckled at Scrub.  [i]:Yes,  I probably will, she likes games too.:
	
	:I hide very well!:
	
	:I just want the occasional night,:[/i] said Shadow.
	
	I nodded my assent and continued on my way.  But then I heard another voice.  It was low, deeper even than Darmani's and with a rough, gravelly tone. [i] :I... I should wish... a chance... to fight..:[/i]
	
	I halted in the middle of the street, blinking.  Somebody walking behind me shouted at me to watch where I was going, and I started walking again, but I was hardly seeing the cobblestones in front of me any more.  [i]:Who are you?:[/i] I asked.

	[i]:My name... hath been... lost.:[/i]  The voice was halting, as though whoever it was had nearly forgotten how to speak.  :I am the Fierce Deity... I know no more.:

	I thought of the last mask, still resting in my pack up at the castle.  [i]:You're the one who fought Majora?:

	:Yes.:

	:I... I don't know when I'll be able to fight next, I want to get my answers first.  But I don't intend to stay here forever.  Eventually I'm sure I'll find some new battle to fight.:

	:That shall suffice:[/i]  The sense of presence that had come with the voice faded, so I knew he was done talking to me.  I was left wondering what had just happened.  Fierce Deity?  Did that mean that the mask's spirit really was a god?  I had no idea.  I resolved to see if the library contained anything about a Fierce Deity.  

-----
	
	The next day I returned to the library, and this time I thought I could get away with asking about what I wanted to know.  So I approached the librarian with cautious enthusiasm.  "Excuse me, do any of the books here mention something called a 'Fierce Deity'?"

	"Hmm.  I'm not familiar with it, but I shall go check the catalog.  Wait here please."

	I watched as he went to a shelf filled with huge, identical volumes.  He pulled one down and paged through it for some time, then smiled.  "Ah yes, of course!  Come here lad, I do have a book that mentions such a thing."

	I trotted over to his side, and he led me among the towering shelves.  He had to climb a ladder to get the book I needed.  "There you are. Do you want to check it out, or read it here?"

	"I'll just read here," I said.  There were plenty of chairs and tables, and I didn't want to wait, I was very curious about what the book might say.  As I sat down with it I sensed Darmani and Shadow sharing my eyes, they were apparently also curious about what I might find.

	The book was titled "Tales From the Outlands."  I paged through it.  Obviously not all the stories there would be what I was interested in.  But I stopped when I came to one titled, "The Fierce Deity and the Dragon."

	[i]:We're in luck,:[/i] said Shadow with an invisible grin.  [i]:That was easy.:

	:Let's see what it says.:[/i]  I settled back in the chair and started to read.  The story began in the "haunted land of Termina."  [i]:So the author has been there then,:[/i] said Shadow dryly.  I chuckled.  Long ago, in the haunted land of Termina, the book said, in Ikana Canyon, but before the Ikana people ever settled there, a village stood.  This village was being harassed by a powerful dragon.  Their crops were destroyed, and all who went from the village to fight the creature never returned.  The people of the village promised a great reward to any who could come slay it.

	One day a tall hero with a magical sword came to the town.  He told the villagers that he was on a quest, and had heard that they held the item he needed to complete it.  They promised it to him, if he would only rid them of the dragon.  So he lifted his great blade and went forth, and after a long battle the dragon lay dead.

	But when he returned to the village, the villagers refused to give him his reward.  He became enraged, and lifted his sword again. In madness and rage the hero leveled every house, until not one stone stood upon another, and he slew all that he found within the houses, and every animal also, and uprooted the very trees.  The destruction was so great that the tiny handful who fled and survived knew that the hero must be a god.

	The dead of that village became the first of the ghosts of Ikana.  The living spread the tale of the Fierce Deity far and wide.

	The story ended there, but on the next page was more, in a different handwriting.  "This tale has been considered by some scholars to be one of the tales of the legendary Hero of Hyrule."

	I considered that.  The legendary Hero of Hyrule?  That sounded familiar for some reason.  I went to find the librarian again.  

	"Who is the legendary Hero of Hyrule this book mentions?"

	The librarian looked surprised.  "Why... the princess has told me that you are."

	I blinked up at him.  I was?  But... "But the story in the book was hundreds, maybe thousands of years ago.  That couldn't be me!"

	"Oh well yes.  Of course.  The Hero is always reborn, you see.  There have been many Heroes down through Hyrule's History.  Though I don't recall... that is a book of outland stories, you say the Hero is in it too?"

	"Yes, see?"  I opened it and pointed.

	"Ah of course!  The Dark Hero of Termina.  I'd forgotten about that little theory.  I don't support it myself, but some past scholars think that the Hero appears in all lands, not just Hyrule.  But that his nature can change, and the version of the Hero from a cursed place like Termina would be a darker one than the version we know.  It's nonsense of course, there's only one Hero.  But scholars are fond of speculating about such wild theories."

	"Oh."  The Fierce Deity had had my face... Maybe it wasn't as wild a theory as the librarian thought.

	"Would you like to read more on past Heroes?  We have an entire section of books on the subject.  And perhaps..."  He got a bright, hopeful look in his eyes.  "Perhaps you could take a little bit of time, and tell me your own deeds?  The princess has shared some with me, but if I had the story from you, I could write a book about it myself.  To chronicle one of the tales of the Hero first hand would be an honor."

	"I... uh..." I had no idea how to reply to that.  I wasn't going to argue that I wasn't a hero, but I didn't know about this legendary business.  I also didn't know about telling the librarian my story. [i]:You could tell him as much as you've told Saria,:[/i] suggested Shadow. [i] :Leave us out of it, but tell about Ganondorf.  He might find that of interest.:

	:Good idea.:[/i]  "Yes, I can tell you about it," I said.  "But not right now."

	"Thank you!  I'll do whatever I can to help you in return.  Thank you so much!  You are wonderful, thank you!"

	I handed him back the book, feeling a little bit uncomfortable with his over-generous praise, and headed back to my room.

	Mikau wanted to play, and I found his music to be calming, which I felt I needed after the surprises of the day.  So back in the room I shut the door and let him take over.  Meanwhile I turned my attention inward.  On the little islet within my mind I found Shadow, and Darmani, and also the Fierce Deity, who once more leaned against the dead tree and seemed to ignore us.

	"That was an interesting little story," said Shadow.

	"Indeed.  It falls in line with what little we know of him."  Darmani gestured at the Fierce Deity. "And if he is Termina's counterpart to yourself, it explains why he has your face."

	"Is that story true?" I went over to the Fierce Deity.  Even though I wore my adult form here in the inner world, he was still much taller than I.  "Did you slay a dragon and destroy a town?"

	He turned his head and looked down at me.  His eyes, I noticed, were white.  Empty blanks that somehow saw.  "I... I do not know.  I can recall naught of my past deeds."

	"None of us do," said Darmani thoughtfully.  "That must mean something."

	"Yes, but what?"  I looked around, then sighed.  This mystery was not unraveling easily.

	Suddenly I felt a jolt of alarm, and found myself shoved back into my body.  The guitar was still in my hands, and I could see sparkles of magic still hovering over me from the change from Mikau's shape to my own.  I could also see the door swinging open.  Zelda stepped into the room.

	"Hi Link.  You know you should be careful trying to do magic with a normal instrument like that.  The ocarina is made for it, but that isn't."  Her tone was gently scolding.  My racing heart slowed a bit.  She hadn't seen too much, thank the Three.  

	"I... uh.  Yes, I'm sorry."

	"What were you trying to do?"

	"Oh, nothing really.  Just playing around."

	"Would you like to play a game?"  

	I smiled, and I could feel Scrub suddenly perking up inside me.  He had been a little bored and very much wanted to play.  "Sure," I said.  "How about hide and seek?"