Terminan Journal: Entry #3

I emerged from the clock tower and was met with a bright, sunny morning. I found myself looking at a mostly empty plaza, set up for a coming festival. Carpenters worked in the distance, and a Deku Scrub merchant looked out at the plaza from his own personal Deku Flower. I ran out of the tower's shadow, looked to the sky, and saw a moon that was quite large, but still more distant than it had been only moments before.

Tatl and I had traveled back in time. Back to the very moment we first stepped foot outside of the clock tower, as if the past three days never happened. It was amazing to think about, but before I could really let it sink in, Tatl urged me to go back into the tower to speak to the mask salesman.

He beamed at me as I entered. Eager to get to business, the mask salesman asked me if I had retrieved my precious item. Indeed, my ocarina had come back in time with me, but the question seemed like more of a formality than anything. I couldn't shake the feeling that he knew much more than he had been letting on. Regardless, he was most pleased to hear that I had retrieved it, and as he promised, he helped me return to my true body. He taught me a strange song, and as I played it back to him, I felt an overwhelming sense of peace and warmth. But it wasn't until that moment that I noticed a different feeling within me, almost like a completely separate entity. I could feel this entity slowly melting away, farther and farther into the soothing melody...

I snapped back to consciousness at the sound of clattering wood. At my feet was a mask that looked an awful lot like my own transformed Deku face, and as I reached down for it, I noticed that my hands were once again my own. The mask salesman explained to me that the song I had just played was called the Song of Healing, and it had the power to put restless spirits at peace, turning all of the spirit's pain and torment into a mask. As I held the Deku mask in my hands, I could almost feel the power trapped within. I decided to keep this mask, and I carefully placed it into my bags.

With his end of the bargain taken care of, the mask salesman then requested that I give him his stolen mask. I barely had the heart to tell him that I was not able to recover it. He was very unhappy to hear this, but he then explained to me why retrieving this mask was so important.

It was called Majora's Mask, and it contained within it an immense dark power. It was once used in ancient tribal rituals, before it was ultimately sealed away out of fear of its powers. It eventually fell into the mask salesman's hands, but was recently stolen from him by the Skull Kid.

As he told me this story, he made no effort at all to hide how dangerous this mask was, and how important its retrieval was. He even begged me to get the mask back. But this was unneeded, as I had seen firsthand just what the artifact was capable of. I agreed wholeheartedly that the mask must be taken back, and promised to do everything in my power to return it.

The obvious first step was to find a way to stop the falling moon. I asked Tatl where to begin, and she suggested we listen to what her brother said on top of the clock tower. It seemed that what Tael had said that I could not clearly hear was to go to the swamp, mountain, ocean, and canyon that surrounded Clock Town. Figuring it was the best lead we had, I took Tatl's suggestion to start in the swamp to the south.

But before heading out, I remembered that the Great Fairy wanted to speak to me after I had regained my true body. So I returned to the fairy fountain... and was met with a shattered Great Fairy once again. Of course, rewinding time had also undone the actions I had performed, but I still had trouble remembering this. So I retrieved the stray fairy once more and restored the Great Fairy, only this time, she made a request of me. It seems that her sisters in the other regions of Termina have also been shattered into pieces, and she asked that I help them all as well. Knowing that they could give me additional magic powers in return, I agreed. The Great Fairy then gave me a mask to assist me, saying that it would attract any nearby stray fairies.

As I left the fountain, I once again saw that small boy trying to pop his balloon. I thought about how the Great Fairy had acted differently than she had in the previous time cycle, and curious as to how else things could be altered, I decided to try joining their gang again. They were more than happy to let another human join, and I became a full member after taking an oath to help people in need. They even gave me this notebook to help me keep track of my good deeds. I have decided to do just that. I will also keep a record of my progress, to help me remember things in case I need to reset time again.

Now that I'm all caught up, I suppose it's time to leave town.


---

In my human form, with sword in hand, the guards allowed me to leave the town, and I proceeded south into the swamp. On the way, Tatl stopped me as we passed a tree carving. She told me she, her brother, and the Skull Kid had carved that, and she began to reminisce of how they all met, and how the Skull Kid had been abandoned by his friends. It was a sad story, but I could not waste time feeling bad for him, after all of the trouble he had caused. We also passed by an entrance to a farm, but it was blocked off by a landslide. A man was working to clear the path, but said it would not be open for a couple of days. I turned around and proceeded into the swamp.

Note: Return to farm.

The air smelled foul, and the water looked just as bad.  The swamp had been poisoned, and I had a feeling I would have to find out why. Luckily, there was a boat house that provided sightseeing cruises around the swamp. Unluckily, the person running it was not around, and there was a sign instructing customers to inquire at the nearby potion shop.

The path to the shop was through the poisoned waters. I tried to swim, but the poison choked me. I thought I was stuck, until I remembered the mask in my bags. That sad, pained face looked up at me from within, almost asking me to put it on.

As I placed the mask over my face, pain shot through my body. I felt like I was being torn apart! But suddenly, it was gone... and I was once again a Deku Scrub. It wasn't a very pleasant feeling, but I took comfort in knowing that I could return to my real body whenever I wanted to. But more importantly, the Deku body was light enough to simply skip across the water, saving me from the poison.

As I approached the potion shop, a monkey approached me and asked me to follow it. The monkey lead me to the injured cruise operator, deep in the woods. She asked me to get a potion form her sister, which I did. In gratitude, she offered me a free boat ride, and as I left, the monkey approached me again. He said his friend was being falsely imprisoned in the Deku Palace, and asked me to help. Feeling that this monkey could help me figure out what was going on, I complied.

I returned to the boat house and took my cruise to the Deku Palace. After gaining entrance to see the monkey's public humiliation, I snuck through the gardens and into the monkey's cage. He told me that Woodfall Temple, in the Deku tribe's sacred land, was the source of the poison killing the swamp. He and the Deku Princess had gone to investigate, but she was captured, and he was being blamed for her disappearance. But our conversation had caught the attention of the Deku King, and the monkey quickly taught me the song needed to open the temple before I was caught and thrown out.

Finally knowing where to go, I set off for Woodfall at once. Along the way, I met a rather large owl that encouraged me to keep going and taught me another new song. When played, this song can transport me to any previously visited location. This is sure to be helpful during my journey. I think I will use it to return to Clock Town for a quick rest before I proceed onward.

---

After nearly a full day of exploring, I fought through the temple and defeated the evil spirit within. This being left behind a strange mask, which I took, but have no intention of ever wearing. But as I picked up the mask, I suddenly found myself in a strange realm of swirling gas. And off in the distance, I saw a huge creature! Tatl informed me that this was most likely one of Termina's four guardian Giants. The Giant taught me a song and simply said "Call us." It was then clear what Tael wanted us to do: Rescue the four Giants and bring them to stop the moon.

There was a flash of light, and I found myself back in Woodfall Temple. Tatl and I discussed what had just happened, and she also apologized for her hand in everything that had happened before. To be honest, her apology caught me off guard, but before I could say anything my attention was caught by a noise behind me. It was the Deku Princess, who thanked me for restoring the swamp and requested I bring her home so she could rescue the captive monkey.

As a token of thanks, the King offered me a royal heirloom, and instructed his butler to lead me to it. The butler decided to make this a game, and raced me to the end of the royal vaults. It was a rough trial, but I barely made it, and earned myself another mask. As he lead me out, the butler apologized for being so hard an opponent, saying I, or my Deku form at least, reminded him of his lost son, who he frequently raced with before he went missing.


I left the swamp, and upon seeing how large the moon had become, realized it was already the third day.  I was so busy, I didn't even notice how much time had passed. Will it even be possible to rescue all four of the Giants? I will have to reset time soon... and when I do, the swamp will be poisoned again. Was everything I just did entirely pointless?

Well, if I'm going to reset time again, I may as well gather some information first.

---

I decided to see if the farm road was cleared yet. It was, so I went in to investigate. I didn't get far before I heard a familiar sound - It was Epona! She was being kept in a pen, but she was safe. I tried to as the nearby girl to release Epona, but she seemed to not even realize I was there. She just kept talking with an empty voice, looking far off into the distance. The woman in the barn wasn't much help either. She was just talking to herself, saying something about wishing she believed her sister. Something bad happened here, and if I want to release Epona, I'm going to need to find a way into the farm before it happen.

Note: Find a way to clear the landslide.

It's starting to get late, so I guess it's time to play the Song of Time once again. I pray that some shred of what I accomplished these past three days manages to make it across time with me...

Deku Mask - The Lonely
Great Fairy Mask - The Savior
Mask of Scents - The Replacement